A Kakashi Romance
by wolfieXchica19
Summary: Rika and Kakashi go way back. They both have a thing for each other but won't admit it. The two get into a big fight and Rika leaves for 7 years! What happens when she comes back to Konoha? Read and find out! KakashixOC SasuxSaku NaruxHina[a little bit]
1. Meet Rika Isono!

Nori: Another new fic! I'm not making this one super long, though.

Tama: Oh no, what is it?

Nori: Actually, it's a Naruto fic, starringggggg…KAKASHI!

Kakashi::looks up:: What…?

Nori: Yes and the scarier thing…it's a CUTE FANFIC!

Audience::GASP!::

Nori: I know, I know! I'm not sure how it will turn out since I'm not good at writing all cute, but I was trying to sleep when I was at Tama's last night and the idea just hit me! Plus most Kakashi fics are all sad and stuff, so yea. This one will be cute. Kakashi, do the honors?

Kakashi::sighs:: I can't wait to see where this goes, Nori does not own Naruto or the characters but she does own the OC's and ideas.

Nori: LET'S GO!

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Kakashi Hatake, a nineteen-year-old member of the ANBU Black Ops. (A/n: I actually don't know his actual age when he was a member, so just roll with me here!) Also know as the famous Copy Ninja because of his one Sharingan eye. It was late, almost midnight and he walked up to the gates that led to the entrance of his home village, Konoha.

Kakashi had just finished another one of the missions he was sent on often. This time he was to capture a rouge ninja that had recently escaped from Konoha's jail.

The ninja was easy to track down; getting him to cooperate and come back to the village was the challenge.

In the end Kakashi had ended up killing the shinobi. He knew this was going to be bad once he filed the report to the Hokage. He was in deep shit, to put it bluntly.

He sighed as he walked through his village. He really didn't want to listen to the Hokage's lecture this time.

As he walked through the village he was also looking for someone. Every time he got back from a mission he would find her and they would just hang out. It was like a little tradition of theirs. Kakashi loved it. Hanging out with her helped him relax. He wasn't sure how or why, it just did.

He turned a corner and then, speak of the devil, there she was. Kakashi's best friend…even if he hated to admit that he cared for people.

She was a strong jonin. She just became a member of the ANBU Black Ops, and even though she was a very powerful ninja, she had a crazy side. She was always very upbeat and playful. She was hardly ever sad. Kind of like one of her good friends, Anko.

She was short, but slender with beautiful curves. She was seventeen with long, straight, flowing blonde hair, which she usually kept up with a clip. Bangs covered her forehead.

Her eyes were a bright crystal blue. They reminded Kakashi of the ocean.

All her enemies knew her name and feared it. No one wanted to mess with this kunoichi. She was a fierce and graceful fighter.

Her name was Isono, Rika.

She was wearing her traditional ANBU clothing and armor with her katana at her hip. Her leaf headband was tied on her forehead.

Rika was talking to one of the higher-ranking ANBU officers. Kakashi could see their lips moving but couldn't hear what they were saying, so he walked closer, silently.

"Ayumu! I can't take another shift, I have to go meet someone!" Rika said, frustrated.

"You're job is more important than relationships," Ayumu shouted at her. "A ninja's life is about fighting and protecting your home, not making friends."

Rika narrowed her blue eyes at the shinobi. She knew he had a point, but she really wanted to see him. He had been gone all week and she really missed him.

"Come on, Ayumu, give the girl a break for a couple hours," a familiar lazy voice came from behind the two.

Both spun around to see none other than the famous copy ninja, Hatake, Kakashi.

He, too, wore the ANBU armor and clothing with a katana. A mask covered from his collarbone to the bridge of his nose and he wore his leaf headband tilted over his Sharingan eye so the only part of his face you could see was his dark, mysterious right eye. His spiky silver hair shone in the moonlight, making him seem a bit more mysterious.

"Kakashi!" Rika exclaimed happily. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Ayumu glaring at her, so, she became more serious once again.

Kakashi and Rika had known Ayumu ever since they were children. He was a couple years older than the two and very strong. Like Kakashi, Ayumu had become a jonin at the young age of thirteen.

He was very strict and demanding, especially to Rika. Ever since they were younger he would always scold her when she acted goofy and un-like a shinobi. The only emotion Ayumu would ever show was rage or seriousness.

"Kakashi, you're back soon," Ayumu said suspiciously.

"Actually, the mission took me longer than I thought," Kakashi said walking closer to the two.

Ayumu rolled his eyes at Kakashi's remark. He looked around Kakashi, as if looking for someone.

"Where's Kenzo?" he asked. "You were supposed to bring him back with you."

Kakashi laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head.

"About him…" he said. "I had to kill him, there was no other way of bringing him back to the village."

Rika's eyes went wide in worry for Kakashi.

'_You baka!'_ she thought._ 'Why the hell would you tell Ayumu that?'_

"What?!" Ayumu shouted in rage. "You needed to bring him back! We needed him alive! His body holds many secrets! What did you do with the body, anyway?"

"Don't worry about it, Ayu," Kakashi said and waved his hand in the air. "I took care of it."

Ayumu sighed and rubbed his temples.

"I don't know what I'm going to do with the two of you…plus Anko…" he said. "Rika you got the night off, working helps me relax so I'll just take your shift."

Rika smiled.

"Thanks, Ayu!" she said and hugged him. This caused Kakashi to glare at the jonin, but once Rika turned around he stopped.

"Whatever," Ayumu told them. "Just both of you…quit calling my Ayu…goodnight…"

With that last comment, the shinobi ran off to take Rika's stand at the gates.

Rika looked at the silver haired jonin standing with her and smiled.

"I'm glad you're back," she said. "I missed having walks in the middle of the night and how we always just talk about anything."

Kakashi smiled slightly under his mask.

"I was only gone for a week, Ri," he said.

"I know," Rika smiled, yet again. She loved it when Kakashi would call her Ri; he was the only one who would.

The two had always had a thing for each other and everyone could see it. The problem was, they didn't want to admit it. They were afraid of being rejected by each other and what the other members of the ANBU Ops. would say. They didn't want them to think they were weak and let their emotions get in the way of their work.

"Let's go," Rika said motioning for him to follow her.

The two walked quietly through the streets of Konoha just talking about things they could never share with anyone else.

Rika could confide a few things in Anko, but there were other things she only felt comfortable talking to Kakashi about.

The two had walked out of the town and into the large woods that surrounded it. They jumped through the trees looking for a place to sit and relax. Finally, they both found a tree that was comfortable. They sat up on the highest branch and talked.

"So, when you were younger you had a crush on Rin?" Rika asked in shock.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly under his mask.

"Yea…but I was too worried about how good of a jonin I was becoming to really care," he said. "Plus, I knew how much Obito liked her. I didn't want to take her away from him."

"That's really sweet," Rika told him. "The great copy ninja looks out for his friends!"

Rika teased him.

Kakashi growled at her.

"They were comrades," he corrected. "That's all."

"Whatever you say!" she said and giggled. The two sat in silence for a moment.

"So," Kakashi said, looking off into the sky. It was a clear night without any clouds. Many stars and the moon were all visible. "What did I miss while I was gone?" Kakashi asked.

Rika shrugged and lazily waved one of her gloved hands.

"Oh, the usual," she said. "Anko and I messing around…then Ayumu, Iruka, and Lord Hokage lecturing us about how we should take things more seriously."

Kakashi chuckled and leaned his back against the tree trunk with his hands behind his head. Yup. Rika was right. That was what usually happened every day. He didn't mind it really. The two kunoichi made things more interesting around there. If Anko and Rika weren't around to annoy everyone, then he might just go crazy from the boredom.

"Hey, Kakashi?" Rika broke the jonin out of his thoughts. He looked at her through his one visible eye.

"Hm?" he asked.

"When do you think I could go on a mission? I mean, I know I just became part of the ANBU Black…but I really want to go on one of the missions with you," she said.

"Well, when I first started they made me wait a month," Kakashi told her. "How long have you been in it? About two weeks?"

Rika nodded.

"Soon then," he said. "Don't rush it. You still need more training even if you are already a jonin. I don't want you getting hurt."

Rika looked down.

She wouldn't get hurt, though. She was strong and been practicing the art of the shinobi ever since she could walk. No one ever took her seriously, though. Maybe that was because she liked to goof off so much. It wasn't her fault thought! Things just got boring so easily, so she needed to find ways to entertain herself.

Because of how often Anko and Rika messed around is the reason why it took them so long to finally get into the ANBU Black Ops. But, at least they were in now.

Rika sighed and lay down on her stomach on the branch. Her arms were under her head like a pillow. She closed her eyes.

Today had been a long day and she was very tired. Usually, when she slept she was in her apartment where she knew she could keep her guard down, somewhat. Sometimes she would sleep in trees, but there she had to stay very alert.

Kakashi was with her now, though. She knew no matter what she would be safe. So, she fell asleep very quickly.

After about a half an hour of silence Kakashi sat up. He looked at Rika's face and saw her eyes were closed.

"Ri?" he said. She didn't answer him. "Rika," he said again. Still nothing. Kakashi smiled under his mask. She was sleeping so peacefully. He wasn't going to wake her, so he just leaned back against the tree trunk and closed his eyes, falling into a light doze, himself.

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Nori: SCORE! Chapter one done! It turned out not too bad. Not a lot of action, but this whole story is going to be more cute and have to do with relationships like I've said before. So if you don't like it don't read!

Tama: Word!

Nori: But yes, I pretty much planned out this whole fic! So, I'm on a role!

Tama: It was pretty funny listening to her plan it out.

Nori: Well…I was thinking aloud! Oh yea! One more thing! For people reading Endless Consequences. I'm taking a break off of that story because I'm running out of ideas. Well, I know how it's going to end, but I just need to get up to that point. In the meantime I'll be working on other fics, but don't worry! New chapters should start coming up again by next month! Sorry everyone!

Tama: Well, read and review please!

Nori: NO FLAMES PLEASEEEEEEEE!


	2. MADLIBS, ADD, and Criminals!

Nori: Yea, when I put up chapter one to this fic I was like stoned and toasted and put up a fic I was working on. I fixed it though! So chapter one is the right one now! Haha…my bad.

Tama: You're an idiot…

Nori: Shut up, I know! And just for that YOU get to do the disclaimer.

Tama: Joy, Nori does not own Naruto and any of its characters but she does own all the ideas and OC's. So please don't sue her…

KEY-

_'Blah'_Thinking

"Blah"Talking

---Scene Change

Nori: LET'S GO!

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Kakashi didn't realize it but that night he fell asleep totally letting his guard down. He noticed that the sun was shining and he shot up.

"Shit! I fell asleep?" he said out loud to no one in particular. Then he looked in front of him where Rika was. She was gone now. "Rika! Where the hell is she!?"

Kakashi stood up on the branch and looked around. When they found a tree branch the night before they picked the biggest one closest to the top. There were a few branches above them, but they weren't strong enough to hold two people.

Kakashi looked around more for his comrade and friend. She was nowhere to be found though.

Then, all of a sudden something fell onto the branch in front of him. He bent down and picked it up…

"A hair clip?" he said.

Then long blonde hair fell in front of him. He looked up at the branch above and saw Rika trying to hold her long hair up. She was so busy trying to do that she forgot to keep the chakra in her feet and fell back onto the branch where Kakashi stood with a thud.

"Ow," she said, sitting up. Kakashi just chuckled at the kunoichi. Rika glared at him, but then started laughing herself.

"What happened there?" Kakashi asked. "You're usually pretty graceful, did you lose all your grace while I was gone?"

Rika growled at him and held out her hand, asking for her hair clip.

"You can't have it," Kakashi said throwing the clip up and catching it.

"But I need it!" she whined. "If I don't have my hair tied up while I'm fighting it gets in the way!"

"You're problem," Kakashi said in his cool voice putting the clip in the pouch on his hip.

Rika's eyes narrowed into a glare again. She smirked to herself and pulled a kunai out of the pouch on her thigh and hid it behind her back. Then, she pouched on Kakashi holding the kunai to his neck. His eyes went wide in shock.

"Give it!" she shouted. But, with a puff of smoke, Kakashi had disappeared and Rika was holding onto a log. "Damn…he's good." Rika stood up and put her kunai away. She kicked the log so it fell down from the tree.

Swiftly and with more grace this time, Rika jumped from branch to branch until she got to the ground. She sighed and began to run back to the village. It was around seven o'clock and she was late! She hated being late for anything and to make it worse she was really going to hear it from Ayumu when she got back for being late.

"I need to stop hanging out with Kakashi," Rika said to herself as she ran. "I'm becoming too much like him."

Whenever there was something important going on, like a meeting for the ANBU ops, or something the Hokage wanted to tell the officers, Kakashi was always late. And when whoever was holding the meeting asked why he was late he would come up with some lame excuse.

Finally, she got into town and found Ayumu. She smiled sheepishly and walked past him into the Hokage's office to find out what she had to do for the day.

Ayumu glared at the shinobi, he knew she was late. He decided to let it go for today, he already had to lecture Kakashi about it anyway.

Rika walked into the Hokage's room quietly.

"Uh, Lord Hokage?" she said as she walked closer to his desk. He sat with his back to her.

"Isono," he said. "You're late." Rika looked down.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I got sidetracked…"

The Hokage turned around to look at her. He was an older man and wore the traditional Hokage robes and hat. (A/n: I'm not sure if the whole outfit thing has a certain name so I'll leave it at that!) The Hokage in charge now, was actually the third instead of the fourth. The fourth Hokage had died a few years back while saving the village from the Kyuubi.

"Isono, if you want to stay in the ANBU you have to pay more attention and stop goofing off," The Hokage told her.

Rika nodded.

"It won't happen again," she said. "What are you assigning me to do today, Lord?"

The Hokage sighed and thought for a moment.

"You are to just guard the entrance gates of Konoha," he told her. "Kakashi will be assisting you, if he ever gets his ass in here…" the last part of his sentence was mumbled.

Rika smiled and bowed to the Hokage.

"I won't let you down!" she said and went to run out of the office.

"Wait! Isono!" the Hokage called her back. "No messing around to day, please…"

Rika grinned and saluted him.

"You got it, chief!" she said and turned and left the office.

The Hokage balanced his elbows on his desk and rubbed his temples.

'_I cannot believe a psychotic maniac like Rika became an ANBU officer…'_ he thought to himself. _'Let alone a jonin, or even a shinobi!'_

"Well, she is strong once she is in battle," he said aloud. "If only she would take more things seriously."

- - - - - - - - -

Rika walked back to the entrance of Konoha. She sighed and looked up at the two tall pillars that she were to sit in all day and make sure no one suspicious go into the village.

'_This is going to be a bore…'_ she thought and sighed. Then she smiled. _'But, wait! I get to do it with Kakashi. Maybe that will make it not as bad…'_

She jumped up to the tower in the spot where the guards usually sit.

'_Hopefully he gets here soon,'_ she said. _'I'm already bored…'_

Rika waited another half hour before the copy ninja finally showed up. He poofed in front of her in a cloud of smoke. Rika didn't jump or anything because that's how he usually showed up and she was used to it by now.

"Hey," he said lazily.

"You're late," Rika said. "Where have you been?" she asked.

Kakashi stood there a moment before answering.

"I got lost on the road of life," he told her and smiled under his mask.

Rika just stood there for a minute before she burst out laughing.

"Wow!" she said through fits of laughter. "That's your lamest excuse yet!"

Kakashi chuckled.

"So, how are we going to entertain ourselves all day?" Rika asked. Kakashi just looked at her.

"You shouldn't need to entertain yourself," he said. "We're supposed to be watching the gates."

Rika sighed.

"Yea, but no one ever comes through," she said, "And even if they do, we're strong enough to sense their presence from here!"

"Hmm," Kakashi said and sat down on one of the chairs. "Yes, but still…"

Rika groaned.

"Come onnnn," she whined. Then she pulled something from one of the pouches on her hip. "I brought madlibs!"

"You brought what?" he asked looking at the small book.

"Madlibs!" Rika told him, holding the book in his face. "I was at the bookstore and I saw it. It looks like fun. You have to pick a word for each blank in the story and you don't know what the story is about so when you read it, its really funny!" she explained.

"It sounds childish," Kakashi said flipping through the pages. Rika snatched it from him and glared at the ninja.

"So what," she said, "its better than sitting here!"

"You have a point…" the copy ninja told her. Rika smiled triumphantly and nodded.

"Ok, let's do one," she said and flipped through the book until she found a good one. "Alright…verb," Rika began.

She would give Kakashi the type of word and he would give her the actual word. This went on for about five minutes until,

"Ok, done!" Rika said. "Time to read it. It's called 'A Little Poem'…

**A Little Poem**

I wrote a little poem. I hope you kill it.

Guys, horny, spitting on the edges of gay.  
Green random puking in the fucking of the river.  
Ponds of sad stupid, oceans of lonely joyous.  
I'd weirdly with joy, but I've lost all sadness.  
Ugly, drunk, I say and destroy my dumbfounded,  
But a 92833333333333.98 weeks of retarded dies all.

I fuck. I eat. I skank.  
The squishy animals of bluntly murder my dreams.  
All is warm."

(A/n: I actually did that MADLIB on a website! Haha!)

"That was the most pointless thing I've done in my life…" Kakashi said as Rika finished reading. He barely heard what it said because while Rika read the poem she was laughing uncontrollably.

"No, haha! That was, haha, the best thing, HAHAHA, I've ever read!" she said while still laughing. Kakashi just rolled his eyes and looked down by the gate.

It was a good thing he did look because two men wearing all black were at the gates, trying to break in.

"Rika! Look!" Kakashi said standing up. Rika immediately stopped laughing and looked down. She, too, saw the men.

"Let's go," she said and stood up on the ledge and jumped down. She landed in front of the men with her hands on her hips. "Morning, dudes!" she said and smirked. "What can I help you two with?"

The men looked at each other. They both looked exactly the same. They had the same height, build, the same black clothes, and the same dark green eyes. Both also weren't wearing headbands.

---

Kakashi who was still up at his post shook his head. Why did Rika just jump down? That was just like attacking them head on…a stupid idea. They could've just talked to them from up at their posts where they could attack if they wanted but it would be harder for the men to counter. Rika also wasn't wearing her ANBU dog mask…they knew her identity…another stupid move on her part.

'_How the hell did she become a jonin?'_ Kakashi asked himself and sighed. He just kept watch on Rika and the two mysterious men.

---

"We're here to uh…see the Hokage," one of the men said in his deep voice. Rika raised one of her eyebrows.

"To see the Lord Hokage, huh?" she said, suspiciously. "I don't think so."

The other man pulled out a kunai and pointed it at Rika.

"You're letting us in!" he said.

Rika just looked at him and chuckled.

"You're going to throw a kunai at me? Wow, I'm shaking in my boots," she said and laughed again.

The two men looked at each other and smirked. Rika stopped laughing and glared at the two.

Suddenly, five sets of chains came shooting out of the ground. Each chain wrapped around either one of Rika's arms or legs and even around her long hair making it impossible to move.

'_Urg! Kakashi! I need my clip...' _she thought, annoyed at the copy ninja, '_But wait...how did he do that without any hand signs? Is that even possible?'_

---

Kakashi's eyes went wide.

"What the hell?" he whispered to himself. "No hand signs?"

---

Then, as if the two men read both of the ninja's minds, one of the men said,

"I know you're wondering how that jutsu was performed," one of the men said. "I'll explain."

Rika glared at the man, wondering what he was getting at.

"My friend here is able to perform hand signs with his mind and have his jutsus work," he said.

"So, he's almost like a psychic?" Rika asked.

"In a way, yes," the man smirked under his mask.

---

_'No! Rika, don't fall for that, it's just genjutsu! It's all an illusion,_' Kakashi thought. He needed to help Rika, but how? He couldn't attack head on. He had to surprise them.

---

"Hmm...so I'm dealing with a psychic here," Rika said. She grinned maniaclly. "Interesting."

The men glared at her, confused as to what her next move would be.

There was a burst of wind and smoke where Rika was.

"Ahh! What?" One of the men said while putting an arm over his eyes so the wind didn't dry them out.

Once the wind and smoke cleared away the two looked back to where Rika was standing. Instead of her being there, there was a scarecrow who had long straw hair and drawn on blue eyes. Chains were attached to its arms and legs and hair in the back.

"Where'd she go?" a man asked. The two looked around waiting for Rika's attack.

---

Kakashi closed his eyes and smirked. His arms were folded over his chest.

"You know, Ri," he said. "I don't give you enough credit."

He turned around to see the kunoichi standing behind him with the biggest grin he'd ever seen.

"I know," she said and looked down at the men. She laughed. "They have no idea where I am!"

Kakashi smiled and closed his eyes again. Rika just laughed, shutting her eyes as well. Then there was a shwing sound. Rika squealed as one of the masked men grabbed ahold of her long blonde hair so she couldn't move again and held a kunai to her throat.

Rika winced at the sting on her scalp.

"Kakashi..." she growled. "This wouldn't be happening if I didn't have my clip!"

"Ri!" Kakashi said and put out a hand, but he immediately stopped.

"You come near her, I'll slit her throat," the man said. Kakashi narrowed his eyes at him. What was he going to do? He looked back down by the gates. Both men were gone.

"How did you know where she was..." Kakashi asked in his calm voice. The man laughed.

"You didn't really think I was a psychic did you?" he asked. Kakashi didn't say anything, he just continued to look at the man. "Well, I'm not. How I did that jutsu without you seeing the hand signs was that I had two of my clones go up to the gates because I knew the two of you were there. I had them distract your friend here so I could perform the jutsu from far away without her knowing. I guess she figured out I was going to attack beforehand so she had one of her clones distract us while she was up here with you so you both could plan an attack. But, I saw it all, so here I am, ready to kill the both of you!"

Kakashi glared at the man again. He needed to think of a plan fast. This guy wasn't someone to just mess around with, but he wasn't so strong that Kakashi would need to use his Sharingan.

"You know, you talk to much!" a familiar voice came from above the two. They both looked up to see Rika up in the air holding two shuriken. The clone the man was holding poofed away and Rika threw the two shuriken at him. Both were a direct hit.

The man cringed a bit but pulled out both of the shuriken from his skin. He glared up at Rika who smiled triumphantly.

This gave Kakashi the opportunity to pull the katana off his back and grab the man's arms and hold them behind his back. He held the katana to his throat.

"Now," Kakashi whispered in his ear dangerously. "It's my turn to make the threats. You make any movements then you die."

Rika landed back down at the post next to Kakashi. She stood up straight and smiled at him as he put a set of chakra draining cuffs on the man who was now on his knees, panting, as the chakra was being sucked out of his body.

"You're reckless," Kakashi said monotone to Rika.

"We make a great team!" she shouted and thrusted a fist in the air.

"You could've been killed!" Kakashi told her. She giggled.

"Yes, but I wasn't," she said. "Cut me some slack, all my moves were pretty smart, you have to admit!"

Kakashi sighed and just picked up the man and slung him over his shoulder.

"Stay here," he said. "I'm taking him to the Hokage. Please don't get distracted and just watch the gates." Kakashi looked on the floor where the MADLIBS were and picked up the book, putting it in his pouch. "No MADLIBS." He pushed her down into a chair. "You keep your eyes on those two gates, got it?"

Rika just groaned, nodded and leaned back in her chair with her arms folded over her chest.

Kakashi nodded and poofed away in a cloud a smoke.

Rika just rolled her eyes and sat back in the chair. Hoping more action would come her way.

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Nori: Chapter two, FIN!

Tama: Wow, it turned out pretty nicely.

Nori: Yes it did, if I don't say so myself! Well, anyway, read and review please!

Tama: NO FLAMES!


	3. Nighttime Visitor

Nori: Okie dokie! So here we go, we're on chapter threeeee! This is going pretty well so far.

Tama: I agree! Kudos!

Nori: Haha, thanks. I also want to thank everyone reading this and I also got my first review! It was from wolfgirl2.0! Thanks dudetteeee!

Tama: I thank you too::smiles::

Nori: Well, um, let's make Sasuke do the disclaimer! YAY!

Sasuke: I hate you.

Nori: I know, NOW DISCLAIMER! CHOP, CHOP!

Sasuke::groans:: Noriko doesn't own Naruto or any of the characters but she does own all the OC's and ideas…

Nori: Let's go!

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It was evening now. Rika had finally finished her shift of watching the gates. She wasn't sure why, but after Kakashi brought the ninja they had fought off he never came back. She hoped he was all right. Wait, this was Kakashi. Of course he was all right!

Rika walked through town looking for him and her other friend, Anko. Every Tuesday night her and Anko would go to the ramen shop just to hang out and have some dinner. Now that they were ANBU they never really had time to do that.

So, while walking to the ramen shop, Rika just kept an eye out for her favorite copy ninja.

When she reached the shop there was no sign of him. She just shrugged and figured he was lazy so he just went home and slept. Just to make sure Rika looked around one more time for him before entering the restaurant.

When she walked in there was a rush of warm air and voices were heard everywhere. Rika smiled. She loved being around people. Even if she didn't know anyone, she just liked it. Being alone was boring. The excitement of meeting other ninja was always fun!

Rika looked at the tables for her best friend.

"Rika! Over here!" she heard a familiar voice. Rika looked in the direction she heard the voice coming from. It was Anko, her best friend for her whole life so far. Anko wore the same ANBU uniform as Rika did. Anko also had hair similar to Rika's. It was long and straight, turned up with a hairclip so it was all spiky in the back. Bangs covered her forehead along with her leaf headband. Her eyes were a beautiful shade of dark purple, the same color as her hair.

"Hey, Anko," Rika said, smiling as she walked over to the table and sat down.

"Hey," Anko said and grinned. Anko was a lot like Rika. The two were big goofballs and always full of energy. They were very playful and loved being around people.

"So, what have you been up to?" Rika asked after they ordered their ramen.

"Eh," Anko said leaning back in her chair. "Stupid little missions that the Hokage put me on. I've been working with Ayumu a lot lately."

Rika laughed.

"Ohh, lucky you!" she said. Anko had known Ayumu as long as Rika and Kakashi had. Kakashi and Rika usually could get along with the guy though. Anko on the other hand couldn't stand him. She hated how up tight he was.

"I know…he's so fun to work with!" Anko said, sarcastically. "What about you? What have you been doing?"

Rika shrugged.

"This and that. Boring little things like you said," she told her. "I worked with Kakashi a couple times."

Anko smiled deviously.

"Oohh!" she said. "Make out at all? Anything like that?" Anko asked casually.

Rika's cheeks turned a light pink.

"What!? No!" she told her best friend. "I said we've been working together, not dating. Plus, Kakashi is only my friend. We would never be anything more." Rika folded her arms and stuck her nose in the air.

Anko raised an eyebrow.

"Really now?" she said. When Rika didn't answer she just shrugged. Then, their meals arrived. Anko had ordered the chicken flavored ramen and Rika ordered mushroom flavored.

The two ate and talked about meaningless things. They also planned on hanging out again this week when they both had some time off.

When Rika finished her food and drink she stood up and stretched.

"That was good!" she said. "Well, I better get going. I'm beat. Plus I have tomorrow off! Hell yes!" she thrust her fist into the air. "But, I have some things I need to get done."

"Ugh, lucky," Anko said. "I have to wait until Friday to have time off!"

"Wow, your life sucks," Rika said jokingly. The girls both laughed. "Well, see ya later, Anko!"

"Later, Rika," Anko said, still sitting at the table while Rika left for home.

Rika's house was on the outskirts of Konoha. It really was just a small shack that she barely stayed in. It was just enough for her though. One bedroom, one bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. All she really needed.

Once she reached her home she pulled out her house key and unlocked the door. She walked in and took off all her armor and shoes so she was just wearing her black sleeveless undershirt and shinobi pants. She plopped down on the couch and turned on her cheap TV.

Rika watched a couple sitcoms for about an hour. Then she stood up and turned off the TV.

"I should get to bed," she said to herself.

It was about ten by that time. She walked into her room and grabbed a pair of shorts and a tank top to sleep in. She changed and washed her face. She also tied her hair up into a high ponytail.

"I still need my hairclip from that bastard, Kakashi," Rika said while yawning. "Oh well, I'll bug him about it tomorrow." With that she got into bed and turned off her light. It only took a matter of minutes for her to fall asleep.

_-In the middle of the night-_

There was a loud knock at the Rika's door. Rika stirred in her bed. The knock came again. Rika groaned and just ignored it, she was still half asleep.

Suddenly, there was a loud crack of thunder and a flash of lighting. Rika shot up in her bed. More knocking came. They were even louder this time.

Rika got out of bed and grabbed one of her kunai. Who would be coming to her house this late? She walked to the front of her house and looked out of the front window, trying to see who was knocking on her door.

A tall figure stood there. They had spiky hair, but Rika was still groggy from just getting up so she couldn't tell who it was.

Quickly she opened the door and pointed the kunai at the person.

"What do you want?" she asked in a threatening tone.

The person at the door held up his hands.

"Whoa, it's just me," they said. Rika rubbed one of her eyes and turned on a light. Kakashi stood in her doorway, soaking wet, still in his ANBU uniform.

"Kakashi?" Rika said. "Come on it, you're going to get sick from standing out in the storm."

Rika pulled his arm into her house and shut the door, locking it again. Kakashi stood there while she struggled a bit to lock the door. He noticed how skimpy her clothing was…but how good they looked on her.

'_She should wear those to work…'_ the perverted side of his mind thought. _'Ah! Shut up, she's your friend, don't think like that!' _his more sensible side thought.

Rika finally got the door to lock and turned back to Kakashi.

"Take off your armor," she ordered him. He hesitated a bit. "Now. You're going to get hypothermia…and DIE!"

Kakashi did as he was told and put his armor on the floor next to Rika's.

"Here, give me your shirt too," she said. "I'll hang it up to dry." Kakashi gave her the shirt and she went into the bathroom and hung it in the shower. She grabbed a big fuzzy towel so he could dry off a bit more. She walked out of the bathroom and threw it to him.

"Thanks," he told her and dried his hair and what he could of the rest of his clothes. Rika nodded.

"Why are you out in the storm this late, anyway?" she asked him. Kakashi sat down on the couch and sighed.

"Well, I _was_ sleeping," he told her. "But my house isn't in the best of shape…and the roof caved in."

Rika smiled in sympathy for the shinobi. It was pretty funny that his roof fell in, but she felt bad. The poor guy was out of a house at the moment and got stuck in this horrible storm.

"Well, you can stay here as long as you need," she told him. "Hope you don't mind sleeping on a couch!" Rika grinned.

Kakashi chuckled and smiled under his mask.

"Better than outside," he said. Rika nodded in agreement. She looked at the clock. It was two thirty in the morning. She stretched and yawned.

"I'll get you some blankets," she told the copy ninja. "Then I'm going back to bed."

Kakashi nodded and continued to dry himself off as Rika went to one of the small closets in her house and pulled out an extra pillow and a couple of very warm blankets.

She walked back to where Kakashi was. He had finished drying himself off and put the towel by the two's armor.

Rika handed Kakashi the blankets and pillow.

"There," she said and smiled at him. "Bedtime now. I'm dead tired! Goodnight!" Rika was about to turn and walk back to her room but Kakashi stopped her.

"Sorry, Ri," he said. Rika turned around with a confused look on her face.

"For what?" she asked, tilting her head.

"Being a pain in the ass like this," Kakashi rubbed the back of his head while looking down at the floor.

Rika smiled and shook her head.

"It's no trouble," she said. "You're one of my best friends. It's really no big deal."

"Well, thanks a lot, Ri," he said softly. Rika smiled.

"Anytime, Kakashi," Rika said and threw a pillow at him playfully. He chuckled in response.

"Goodnight, now," Rika said.

"'Night," Kakashi called back. He lay down on the couch covering up with the blankets as Rika walked back into her room and got back into bed.

'_My god she looks great,'_ Kakashi heard the familiar voice inside his head. It was none other than Obito. Ever since he had gotten the Sharingan eye from his comrade it seemed like he had Obito inside his head sometimes.

'_Yea…she really did,'_ Kakashi agreed.

'_Why don't you go for, dude?'_ Obito asked. Kakashi sighed.

'_You heard her, I'm "one of her best friends", nothing more,'_ he told him. _'Plus, I don't want to be anything more. She's just my friend, and she's pretty, but that's it!'_

'_Best friends is a start, though!'_ Obito reassured him.

'_No, we're just friends nothing more,'_ Kakashi said. _'Drop the subject.'_

'_But, she has such gorgeous blue eyes, and that beautiful long blonde hair,'_ Obito went on. _'She has nice b-.'_

"_Drop it, now!'_ Kakashi said in his mind angrily. When Obito was about to say that about her he got angry. He didn't understand why, but if any other guy looked at her in a perverted sense he felt like he needed to kick their ass. He shook it off, though.

"Ok, sleep, now," he whispered to himself and shut his eyes. It took him a little while, but eventually he fell into a peaceful sleep.

_-Morning-_

Rika woke up around six. She looked out her window and saw the sun was rising. She jumped out of bed and went to see if Kakashi was still there. To her surprise, he was. He was still sleeping too.

'_He's so lazy,'_ she thought and smiled. _'But, he had a rough night, so I don't blame him.'_

She decided to let him sleep and walked into her kitchen to make breakfast. Rika, no matter how much she messed around, was actually a great cook. She decided to make herself an omelet and she made Kakashi a couple pancakes.

While her food was cooking she set the small table in the center of the kitchen with two plates, a fork and knife at each seat, and two glasses for milk or apple juice.

When the food finished cooking she put it on the plates and poured drinks. She noticed that Kakashi still wasn't up so she sat down and ate while she waited.

By the time she had finished, he still was sleeping, so she decided it was time to get him up. Plus, his pancakes were getting cold.

She walked into the living room and shook Kakashi's shoulder gently.

"Hey, Kakashi, time to wake up!" Rika said. No reaction. Rika growled in annoyance. How was she going to wake this guy up? She thought for a moment. Then she remembered her box of annoying birthday presents that Anko had got her over the years.

She ran into her bedroom and grabbed the box from under her bed. She dug through it and found random objects that would be great for annoying people. Finally, she found what she was looking for. An air horn. She grabbed it and threw the box back under her bed.

Rika ran back over to Kakashi who was still sleeping and put the air horn right next to his face. Plugging one ear and looking away she pressed the button and it was so loud, she could've sworn it woke up the dead.

Right when Rika blew the horn Kakashi jumped and woke up.

"AH!" he yelled, falling off the couch. When Rika stopped blowing the horn she laughed.

"Time to get up, sleepy head," she said bending down with her hands on her knees. Kakashi groaned.

"Don't you have a less…obnoxious way to get someone up?" he asked, still on the floor. Rika grinned.

"Of course not!" she said. "Now get up. I made you breakfast; it's on the table. I'm going to go take a shower." With that Rika skipped off to the bathroom and shut the door. A couple minutes later Kakashi heard the water turn on and a certain someone singing…

Kakashi chuckled and got up, walking over to the kitchen table. He saw the pancakes with syrup sitting out and sat down. He pulled down his mask and quickly ate before Rika came out. Yes, the two were good friends but there was no way Kakashi was going to let anyone see himself without his face covered.

When he finished his breakfast he put his mask back on and put his plates in the sink. He, too, had today off so he sat back down on Rika's couch and turned on the TV. He flipped through the channels searching for something worth watching.

While Kakashi was watching TV he heard the shower turn off. The bathroom door opened and Rika walked out wearing only a towel. Her hair was dripping wet and she was still singing.

"WHOA! I NEVER MEANT TO BRAG! BUT I GOT HIM WHERE I WANT HIM NOW!" she sang loudly. Kakashi's eyes were wide seeing the kunoichi there almost naked.

Rika looked over at him and her face turned bright red. She squeaked.

"I thought you were leaving after you ate!" she shouted.

"I thought you were getting dressed in the bathroom!" Kakashi shouted back, his face slightly pink underneath his mask.

"Sorry!" Rika said clutching her towel and running into her room, slamming the door behind her.

Kakashi let out a sigh and sat back down. He was still shaken up a bit by that incident.

'_That was nice,'_ Obito said in his head happily. Kakashi rolled his eyes and just ignored the idiot.

After another few minutes Rika came out of her room, fully dressed this time, and walked over sitting down next to Kakashi.

Her blonde hair was still tied up and she wore light eyeliner under her blue eyes. She had on a fitted black tank top with black shorts. She wore a black pair of shinobi sandals with fishnet coming from the shoes up to her knees. On each elbow she had the same type of fishnet. Around her neck was a plain black choker.

"Can I have my hairclip back?" Rika said not looking at him. Kakashi grinned under his mask.

"Nope, not now," he said. Rika glared at him. Then she had a good idea.

"Take off your mask then," She said.

"No," Kakashi told her. Rika frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, pouting.

"What are you doing today, anyway?" Rika asked after she finished pouting.

"Hmm," Kakashi thought for a moment. "Nothing really. I have the whole day off."

Rika jumped up.

"Me too!" she shouted. "Wanna hang out today?"

Kakashi shrugged.

"I've got nothing better to do," he said and stood up. "What do you want to do?"

Rika thought.

"Well, I have to get some groceries and I planned on getting some new clothes and then picking up more MADLIBS," she told him.

"Mind if I come along?" he asked.

"Sure!" Rika said and smiled. "I'd like having someone to talk to besides myself."

Kakashi chuckled.

"Let's go!" Rika said and dashed for the door. Kakashi followed her and the two left to get her errands done.

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Nori: Whoa! I finished a chapter in a day! Hell yes!

Tama: Scoreeeeee!

Nori: Well, next chapter will be the beginning of the plot. Sorry its taking kinda long. READ AND REVIEW! NO FLAMES PLEASE!


	4. The Lizard Demon

Nori: Chapter four. Here we go folks!

Tama: Folks?

Nori: I couldn't think of anything else…shut up.

Tama: Wow…so…who's doing the disclaimer today?

Nori::thinking:: Hmmmm…how about…SAKURA!

Tama: GO SAKURA!

Sakura: What…oh…um…Nori doesn't own Naruto or the characters but she does own all the OC's and ideas! CHAAAAA!!!!

Nori: Let's go!!!!!!!

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Now it was in the middle of the day. Rika and Kakashi had gotten the grocery shopping that Rika needed along with getting her new clothes. Kakashi didn't really like that part too much. He wasn't one for clothes shopping.

Their last stop was the bookstore. The bell rang as Rika opened the door. Kakashi followed close behind.

Rika ran over to the MADLIB section to try and find another good book to do. Kakashi decided to take a look around himself. He walked through the isles looking for something that would catch his eye. The first couple minutes while he was looking there wasn't really anything that great. Then there was one book that looked very interesting.

Kakashi bent down and picked up a copy of the book. It was called Make-Out Paradise. Kakashi had heard about these perverted books before but had never actually read one. He also heard that they actually pretty good. They were the perfect mix of romance, comedy, and sex. Everything he enjoyed!

"What the hell?" Kakashi said to himself, shrugging and went up to the cashier to pay. When he was finished paying he stood near the front door waiting for Rika. After about a half hour of contemplating on which MADLIB book to get, the kunoichi finally picked the one she thought would be the best. She, too, paid for her book and walked out of the store with Kakashi.

As they were walking Rika noticed Kakashi had a bag.

"What did you get?" she asked while pointing at it.

Kakashi lifted up the bag and grabbed the book to show her. Rika took it in her hands and read the cover than the back.

"Kakashi!" Rika exclaimed. "Why the hell did you buy one of these perverted books? They are so juvenile!"

Kakashi shrugged.

"I heard they were good," he said and snatched the book away. "So, I decided to buy one!"

Rika rolled her eyes and giggled. Men…

The two shinobi were heading towards the ramen shop to get some lunch when Ayumu jumped in front of the two. He was in his ANBU uniform, the sleeveless shirts showing off his muscular arms and his long dark hair tied up into a high ponytail. His hazel eyes were full of worry.

"I'm glad I found you two," the ANBU officer said. Rika tilted her head to the side sensing his worry. She had never seen the man panicked like he was now. Usually, he would hide any emotion. She wondered what the problem was.

"What's going on?" she asked him.

"It's a demon," he said. "It's about to attack the city. One of our ANBU officers spotted the beast coming, we need all the help we can get."

Rika and Kakashi looked at each other and nodded.

"I need my katana!" Rika said before sprinting at her top speed back to her house. She got inside and threw her bags onto the floor and quickly put on her uniform, armor, and weapons. She also put on her mask. She usually didn't wear it, but since all the ANBU officers would be there she decided it would be a good idea.

She rushed to the entrance gates where she saw Ayumu, Kakashi, Anko, and tons of other ANBU members. Rika jumped and landed next to Anko.

"Glad you could make it," she said not bothering to look over to her. She had dropped into a fighting stance. Rika did the same.

"I wouldn't want to miss any of the fun," she said. She put her arm up behind her head, ready to grab the katana from her back if needed, which she had a feeling she would.

That's when the ground started to rumble. Growls and roars from the demon could be heard from miles away. The leaves on the trees of the forest all began to rustle.

Then…all was quiet. The ANBU Black Ops. all looked around, waiting for the giant creature.

"Here it comes…" Rika whispered.

Suddenly, the beast jumped out in front of them. It was a giant lizard. The lizard had blue scales with a mix of green spots. It had five tails and razor sharp claws and fangs. It stood on two feet and had piercing yellow eyes.

The demon bent down on all fours and hissed at the shinobi.

Rika whipped out her katana.

"ATTACK!" one of the head officers shouted to the gang of ninja. They all nodded and charged. Some shinobi threw shuriken and kunai at the beast. Others fought closer with their katanas. Some ninjas were a bit smarter and used special jutsus against the lizard.

Rika was using her katana when the lizard swung its huge claw and made her fly into a tree. She hit it and fell to the ground with a thud.

"Ah…bastard," she said getting up with a hand on her sore back. She ran back over to the fight.

There was so much commotion where she was and in the city. People in the village who weren't ninja were running all over yelling and screaming, trying to find children and other loved ones to make sure they were all right.

"No…" Rika said. "It can't happen again…"

She looked up at the monster and memories flashed through her head of when she was about thirteen years old. The fox demon, Kyuubi. It destroyed so much of Konoha and murdered so many of its people. Among the dead were the Fourth Hokage, Yondaime, and her whole family. She lost her mother, father, older brother, and younger sister all in that one night. She couldn't lose anyone else close to her.

While she was lost in thought the lizard pushed away ANBU members and made its way to the gates, right where Rika stood dazed. He knelt down and hissed at her.

Rika shook her head and looked up at the demon. Her eyes were wide in fear. Not many things scared Rika, but this was an exception.

The demon lizard rose up a sharp claw and was about to smash it down on Rika.

She put her arms up over her head to try and block it, but she knew this was the end. It was her time to die. She closed her eyes waiting for the claw to crash down and crush her body. But, instead she heard a voice.

"CHIDORI!" a deep voice shouted. Rika opened her eyes and saw Kakashi standing in front of her. One arm was above his head with a blue electric type light surrounding his hand and his other hand holding onto his arm. Some of the demon's black blood spilled onto the two.

"Kakashi!" Rika gasped. Kakashi turned his head and looked at her.

"R-run…n-NOW!" he shouted. Rika nodded and sprinted away. Kakashi disappeared from under the lizard and his claw crashed into the ground cause rocks to fly everywhere.

Rika landed on top of the wall surrounding Konoha. She watched in horror as the beast ran into the city leaving behind many dead soldiers.

Rika looked in shock and fear down at her fallen comrades. Many of them she had become friends with. They were all gone now. She wasn't sure what to do.

Kakashi then appeared next to the kunoichi. She began to panic.

"Kakashi what are we going to do?" she asked, frantically. "This is exactly like when Kyuubi attacked!"

Kakashi stayed calm and watched the beast walk through the city.

"We cannot sacrifice another, this time," Kakashi said thinking back about his sensei. "There has to be another way to stop it."

"There isn't any other way!" Rika shouted. "We're done! The city is doomed!" Rika was really beginning to lose her cool.

"Calm down, Ri," Kakashi said sternly. "If you lose it now, then there is no way we will defeat this thing."

Rika took a deep breath. She looked at Kakashi trying to think of a plan. Then it came to her.

"What about that jutsu?" she asked Kakashi. Kakashi looked at her in confusion.

"What jutsu?" Kakashi asked. Rika sighed and looked away. She hesitated for a moment.

"The one…Yondaime-sensei showed me," she said. "Before everything happened. My Kekkei Genkai."

Kakashi looked at Rika in shock. Kakashi was on a team before Rika had been old enough to be on one but she would always follow him around trying to become stronger than him ever since she was young. She was like the little sister of his team. Even his sensei, the Fourth, would teach her new techniques. They all protected her and helped her become stronger, even when she had a team of her own.

"No…Rika, do you have any idea how much chakra that would take up?" he asked. "You are in no condition to do it!"

Rika smiled behind her mask.

"I have to Kakashi," she said. "I want to save my home."

Before Kakashi could try and talk some sense into her she ran off towards the demon. As she ran, she pulled out a special scroll that Yondaime had given her for the jutsu. She landed in front of the creature as it destroyed some buildings in the town.

Rika quickly undid the scroll and unrolled it in one swift motion. She bit a small hole in each of her fingers on her left hand so a tiny drop of blood appeared on them.

The jutsu she was going to use was a very powerful one. Yondaime had told her not to use it unless she was in a dire situation. And she was in one right now.

This particular jutsu was fire style. It was a bloodline trait from the Isono clan. Her family knew all about it but never bothered to teach it to Rika. That's why Yondaime came along and helped her with it. He, too, knew much about the technique.

What the technique did was create tons of bombs that would surround one's opponent. Those bombs would go off at the user's will. It sounds simple really, but the stronger a ninja is the more powerful the jutsu becomes and the more bombs they are able to make with larger explosions.

Rika spread her fingers out and wiped the blood down the scroll. She closed her eyes and began making all the hand signs needed for the technique. Right as she was about to make the last one, someone pushed her down so she lost all of her concentration.

She sat up, holding herself up with her forearms, wanting to kill whoever had done that. Again, it was Kakashi Hatake.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" Rika exclaimed angrily.

Kakashi glared at her. Rika noticed that his ANBU mask was shattered; half of it was off his face.

"Saving your fucking life!" Kakashi shouted. His voice sounded dangerous. "Like I always fucking do!"

Rika's eyes were wide. Kakashi had never said anything like that to her. She just wanted to break down and cry right there. This was all too much. But, it was a shinobi rule to never show emotion. She continued to just stare up at him.

Out of nowhere the two heard some new voices. They looked up at the lizard, which was now letting out shrieks of pain. Chains were coiled around its tails, arms, legs, and neck. Then the Third Hokage jumped in out of the blue. While he was in the air, he made hand signs at a god-like speed.

"FIRE STYLE!" he shouted. "DRAGON FLAME JUTSU!" he put his first two fingers next to his mouth and blew. A giant fireball came rushing towards the monster, burning and killing it. After the fire surrounding it died out, all that was left of the lizard was a pile of ash.

Rika still was on the ground. She looked up at Kakashi who was watching the Hokage.

"It's over," he said more calmly this time. He looked back at Rika, his eyes were still holding a stern look and he held out a hand. Rika backed up a bit.

"N-n-no," she said. "Leave me alone, Kakashi!" Rika shouted and got up. "I'm so sick of everyone thinking they need to save me! I'm done!"

With that last word Rika sprinted out of Konoha. She didn't look back, she knew no one was going to follow her; there was no need to. She finally realized it. Everyone just thought of her as someone who needed to be saved all the time and who couldn't stand her own ground.

She didn't get it though! If everyone thought that…then why did they pass her in all of her ninja exams? She didn't care anymore. She was leaving that town for good. No one would miss her anyway.

For the rest of the day Rika ran. She ran away from her home and friends…and she never planned on going back.

_-Back in Konoha-_

Kakashi stood there dumbfounded. What had just happened? What did he say to Rika? Where was she going? Why was she so upset? Everything was all a blur. It all happened so fast.

Then he remembered.

"What was I thinking?" he whispered to himself. _'I have to apologize to her. I was so horrible…'_

He stood there. Waiting. Waiting for Rika to come back. She always did. Whenever they got into these little arguments she would come back saying sorry even if whatever happened wasn't her fault.

The sky began to get darker, now. There had been no sign of Rika. She didn't come back like she usually did. Why, though? Kakashi wanted to know.

Kakashi waited another couple hours and still no sign of her. That's when it hit him…she really did leave. She wasn't coming back. How could he have done that to the last person he truly cared about?

First Obito…then Yondaime-sensei…then Rin…and now Rika. They were all gone. And most of it was all Kakashi's fault.

Kakashi let out a sad sigh and walked back to his ruined house. It was over. She was really gone now. He had nothing left….

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Nori: WHOA! Another chapter in one day! I'm so doing good here.

Tama: This is shocking.

Nori: Yea! I know! But, it makes me happy!

Tama: Nice job. You even made sad in this chapter!

Nori: YEAAA! I so did! Go me! Anyway, read and review please!!!!! No flames!!!!!


	5. Lucky Number Seven

Nori: WHOA! Chapter five in like a week in a half…wow…I think its time for a song!

Tama: Oh god…where we go…

Nori::brings out stereo and blasts the "This Is Why I Rock" background music:: THIS IS WHY I ROCK! THIS IS WHY I ROCK! THIS IS WHY…THIS IS WHY…THIS IS WHY I ROCK!

Tama::is plugging ears::

Nori: WE ROCK CUZ WE FLY Y'ALL CAN'T CUZ YOU NOT! THIS IS WHY, THIS IS WHY, THIS IS WHY I ROCK!

Tama::yells over Nori's horrible rapping:: I'll do the disclaimer to make her stop! Noriko doesn't own Naruto or the characters but she does own all the OC's and ideas!

Nori::stops rapping this is why I rock and new music comes on:: LET'S GO[Let's go! IF YOU WANT IT YOU CAN GET IT LET ME KNOW!

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_- -__Seven Years After the Lizard Demon__- -_

Seven years had passed since the lizard demon attacked Konoha and Rika left the village. The day after she had left Kakashi went to the Hokage and told him about her leaving. He sent the ANBU out to search for her but she never was found.

Many people were upset about the missing kunoichi, but the four who were the most upset were Kakashi, Anko, Ayumu, and the Hokage. She was a great friend and an amazing shinobi and now she was gone.

After a couple years of Rika being gone Kakashi decided he was going to be a teacher for three genins. The Hokage had been looking for more jonins to teach the younger ninja and Kakashi decided he'd sign up. He wanted to follow in the footsteps of his sensei, someone who taught him to be strong and helped him become the ninja he was today.

The Hokage had assigned Kakashi many teams but none of them were able to pass is rigorous survival test.

Today was the day Kakashi was to find out who was on his latest team. They were all supposed to be waiting at the training grounds where he was to administer their survival test. As usual, he was late.

Three kids stood out at the training grounds waiting for their new sensei. All of them were twelve years old; there were two boys and one girl, like most of the teams were set up.

One of the boys sat on the ground with his legs crossed and his chin in his hands, balancing on his elbows. The boy had spiky blonde hair and bright blue eyes. He wore his leaf headband on his forehead and was dressed in an orange jacket with orange pants to match. He looked rather annoyed. This was Naruto Uzumaki.

The other boy was standing, leaning against a tree with his arms folded over his chest. His hair was long in front and spiky in the back of his head, it was midnight black colored, the same as his eyes. He wore his headband on his forehead, too, like Naruto did and was dressed in a blue t-shirt with a high collar and a pair of white shorts. White arm warmers were around his forearms and medical tape was wrapped around his shins. He looked more angry than annoyed. His name was Sasuke Uchiha.

The last child, the girl, was standing next to Sasuke and looked to be daydreaming about something. She had long pink hair without any bangs. She wore her headband in her hair so it would keep most of it back; some of her pink locks fell forward though. Her eyes were a pretty teal color, making her look very unique. She wore a red dress that was cut on the sides so she could move better. Under the dress she wore a pair of green tights. She was known as Sakura Haruno.

"AHH!" Naruto shouted and jumped up. "When is this mysterious sensei guy gonna get here!? I'm so sick of waiting!"

"Naruto, calm down!" Sakura scolded the blonde. "I'm sure our new sensei has a perfectly good reason for being late."

Naruto folded his arms over his chest.

"He'd better," he muttered to himself.

"I'll even ask him once he gets here!" Sakura said to prove her point. Sasuke ignored the two.

Then, there was a poof of smoke in front of the three. Sakura and Naruto watched anxiously to see who their new sensei was, Sasuke showed no emotion, as usual.

Once the smoke cleared a tall, about 5'11", man stood in front of them. He wore the regular jonin attire. Black pants, black sandals, black under shirt and a green vest with pockets on the front for scrolls. He had silver gravity defying hair. What really made him stand out in a crowd was the mask he wore. It covered from his neck up to the bridge of his nose. His leaf headband was on his forehead but tilted so it covered his left eye.

This was the amazing copy ninja, Kakashi Hatake. He now was twenty-six years old, but still famous for his Sharingan eye.

"Yo," he said in his lazy voice. "Sorry I'm late, a black cat crossed my path and I had to take the long route." His eye closed and he smiled under his mask.

Sakura and Naruto both fell anime style while Sasuke just stood there with a look that told Kakashi that he thought he was insane and annoying.

"That's no excuse to be late, sensei!" Sakura shouted pointing a finger at him. "It's our first real lesson!"

Kakashi chuckled.

"I know, I know," he said. "But first, let me introduce myself. I'm Kakashi Hatake, you're new sensei." He smiled under the mask again, and then he looked at Naruto. The boy was a spitting image of the fourth Hokage, Yondaime.

'_He looks so much like you, sensei,'_ Kakashi thought to himself. _'I wonder if he will have the same strength.'_

"When are we going to get started with this stupid lesson!?" Naruto shouted, "I want to get on missions and kick other shinobi's butts! Believe it!"

Kakashi sighed.

'_He acts more like Obito than his own father…'_ he thought. "Hold on, there, kid. First I want to know each of your names. Let's start with you since you can't seem to shut up in the first place."

Naruto grinned and pointed a thumb at himself.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! And I'm going to become the next Hokage! Believe it!" he shouted.

Kakashi stood there for a moment. He closed his eyes and smirked.

'_Like father, like son,' _he thought. "Ok, now you." He looked to Sakura.

"Oh," she smiled. "My name is Sakura Haruno. I want to become a ninja to impress someone I really like." Her eyes glanced over to Sasuke.

Kakashi rolled his eyes.

'_Why do the kunoichi these days think about boys more than their training?'_ he asked himself. _'I don't understand it…'_ His gaze shifted to Sasuke. "Your turn."

Sasuke looked up.

"Sasuke Uchiha," he said. "My plan is to restore my clan…and kill a certain someone."

'_Wow…a Uchiha…'_ Kakashi grinned. _'This should be interesting.'_

"Well, now that we got that out of the way," Kakashi said. "We can start your first lesson. It's a survival test."

(A/n: I don't want to bother writing the whole thing out so I'm skipping ahead…a lot, because 1-I don't want to totally fuck it up and 2-it's too long! Sorry!!!!!!! But, again, my fic…so what I say goes! Heehee.)

About a month went by since the Kakashi's team, Team 7, had all passed his first test. The four ninja had been on so many missions together already. They even went on a b-class mission and fought a rouge ninja called Zabuza and his partner, Haku. The two were strong but Team 7 was able to come out as victors!

After the battle with Zabuza and Haku, Kakashi decided his team was ready for the upcoming chuunin exams so he signed them up. The first part of the exam was a written exam administrated by Ibiki. Sakura and Sasuke easily passed the written exam. Naruto passed as well, but with a bit more difficulty.

They also went through the survival part of the exam. Anko was the proctor of this part. She had quit being an ANBU and decided she would start teaching and proctoring exams. It was easier to have more fun with kids that way…and to torture them mentally here and there!

The task for the survival part was in the Forbidden Woods (A/n: I think that's what its called…) where they were given either an earth or light scroll. They had to try and get whatever scroll they didn't have within three days and bring it to the next testing area in the middle of the forest.

The three got there but ran into trouble on the way. Sasuke and Naruto both were injured, Sasuke was bitten by a ninja and was acting strange ever since, and Naruto had been eaten alive by a huge snake that he had managed to escape.

But, while the two were sleeping Sakura had to watch over them and three ninja from the sound village attacked! Rock Lee, a taijutsu-mastering student from Konoha, came along to help, but he had failed. Sakura decided it was her time to shine so she tried fighting them off. While she was fighting she had to cut her long pink locks to escape from one of the sound ninja.

In the end, she did very well, but Sasuke woke up and finished them off. But, the strange thing was he had markings all over his body and almost killed the other ninja. Luckily, Sakura was there to stop him. When that fiasco was over, the three made it to the testing area safely.

The next part of the exam were one on one battles to see who were going to compete in the finals of the chuunin exam. Sasuke had fought a mysterious ninja and won against him. He had to be hospitalized though, because of the strange mark on his shoulder. Sakura wanted to tell Kakashi about it, but Sasuke didn't want anyone to know. Eventually Kakashi found out about it and attempted to seal it.

Sakura had fought Ino during the exams. The two were very fierce and took the fight seriously, but it ended in a simultaneous knock out. Neither of them were making it to the finals.

Naruto was the last of his team to fight. He fought a ninja named Kiba and his dog, Akamaru. Kiba and Akamaru were fast and strong. Naruto had his work cut out for him. The fight ended in Naruto winning by a fart…He, too, was going onto the finals with Sasuke.

It was now the day of the finals. Many fights had gone on. Temari from the sand village fought Shikamaru and came out victorious. Naruto fought Neiji and won…surprisingly. It was Sasuke's turn to fight the sand village's Gaara. He was the same age as Sasuke, but more dark and sinister. He carried a large gourd on his back all the time.

The battle was intense. Just what everyone there had been waiting for! Sasuke had gained so much speed. Before the finals he had trained long and hard with Kakashi. He had even taught him a new technique, the chidori.

The battle was interrupted though when the sand village along with Orochimaru, the man who gave Sasuke the mark, attacked Konoha.

Sasuke and Naruto were fighting off Gaara who had gotten a hold of Sakura. The Third Hokage was in an intense battle with Orochimaru.

Kakashi and the other jonin, along with the ANBU were all fighting sand ninja throughout the city.

Kakashi fought alongside Anko, an old friend. She was a bit shorter than Kakashi, still and she had the same hairstyle and eyes. Instead of wearing an ANBU uniform now she wore a pair of mesh shorts and shirt that was connected and had with a skirt over it with a long tan overcoat.

"Kakashi!" Anko called as she fought off a ninja. "Long time no see!" she grinned.

Kakashi rolled his eyes. He hadn't really seen her in a long time, but after these past years she was still the same old Anko!

"Same to you," Kakashi said back after giving a ninja a roundhouse kick to the head.

"You teaching now, Kakashi?" Anko asked after stabbing another ninja with a kunai.

"Yea," he said. "My team were annoying little brats at first, but they've really grown on me." Anko looked at the ninja and smiled softly.

"You see Rika at all?" she asked in a calm tone. Kakashi stabbed a man with a kunai and just stood there. He looked down and shook his head. Anko sighed.

"Yea…me either," she said softly. The two immediately went back to fighting.

Kakashi was decided that just fighting each ninja one by one was going nowhere so he went to the outside of the village to see if what was going on with his team and Gaara.

From where he was standing he couldn't see anything. He began to run towards the battle when a shuriken flew in front of him. Kakashi stopped and looked around wondering where it came from. He was far enough from Konoha that none could reach him from all the battles there and he wasn't close enough to Gaara, Sasuke, and Naruto to be hit by one of their shuriken.

Then Kakashi sensed a different chakra. It wasn't one from the sand village. It felt slightly familiar actually; he just couldn't put his finger on where he had felt that chakra before. It made him feel strange…like he was in danger…but a danger he would enjoy.

"Now, now, where could they be hiding?" he asked himself. He looked in all directions waiting for another attack. Nothing came for awhile until…

A chain of sharp metal came out of nowhere trying to wrap around Kakashi. Luckily, he jumped back in the nick of time and dodged it. He balanced himself on one knee with his hand down ready to counter when his attacker jumped down from where they were hiding.

Kakashi looked at them. He had no idea who it was no matter how familiar their chakra felt. But, he could tell just by looking at them it was a female, she wore a hood with a long cloak that reached the ground. Her face wasn't visible. Her eyes were covered by the shadow of the hood and the rest of her face covered by a black mask similar to Kakashi's.

She wore a sleeveless mesh shirt with black fabric to cover her chest. Her black shorts were a bit too short and looked like they were cut from pants. On her feet were black boots that came up past her knees and were laced up. On one hand she wore a long leather glove where her chain was attached. On her other hand was a short fingerless leather glove, that hand held a katana.

Kakashi glared at her out of his visible eye.

"Who are you?" he asked. "I know you're not from the sand village."

"Ask me after our fight," she said and laughed. Her voice was high-pitched, almost childish. It sounded so familiar…

"Fine," Kakashi said. He stood up. "I'm ready."

"Good," the hooded girl said and giggled. "Let's begin!"

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Nori: Sorry about such a short chapter but I felt like I was keeping everyone waiting!

Tama: It turned out pretty good. But you left a cliffy…you know how your audience feels about those…

Nori: Damn…

Audience::throws random objects at Nori::

Nori::dodging the objects:: READ AND REVIEW PLEASE!

Tama::sits in her chair and smiles:: No flames.


	6. The Hooded Fighter

Nori: Ok guys, I left you at a cliffy last time! So here's chapter six now!

Audience::cheers::

Nori: Finally, I don't get pelted with random objects! Go me!

Tama: Who's doing the disclaimer today?

Nori: Hmm, good question. I choose you, SHIKAMARU!

Shikamaru: Why me?

Nori: You were the only name I could think of that rhymed with you…

Orochimaru: What about me::sad face::

Nori: But, I hate you.

Orochimaru: Oh, yea. I hate you too::walks away::

Nori: DISCLAIMER! NOW! GO!

Shikamaru: What a drag…Nori does not own Naruto or the characters but she does own the OC's and ideas.

Nori: LET'S GO!

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"_Who are you?" he asked. "I know you're not from the sand village."_

"_Ask me after our fight," she said and laughed. Her voice was high-pitched, almost childish. It sounded so familiar…_

"_Fine," Kakashi said. He stood up. "I'm ready."_

"_Good," the hooded girl said and giggled. "Let's begin!"_

The two stood facing each other for a moment. Everything was quiet. The wind picked up a few leaves around them, tension was building.

The girl pulled her chain back so she was holding onto it. She grinned underneath her mask and suddenly disappeared.

Kakashi looked around calmly. He had a feeling he was going to enjoy this fight.

'_She's not in front of me…'_ Kakashi thought. He kept looking around. _'Left? No. Right? Nope.'_ He spun around. _'Not behind me either…' _He looked down. _'Below?'_ He waited for an attack from underground. Still nothing.

"You forgot above!" the high-pitched voice said.

Kakashi looked up to see the girl above him. He noticed she had put her chain away, but unsheathed her katana. Her cloak flew behind her as she came down. She went to slice Kakashi right in half but he jumped back and threw a shuriken at her.

The hooded girl hit it with her katana and put her right arm with the longer glove in front of her. The spiked chain shot out at Kakashi. He went to dodge it again, but when he moved out of the way the chain followed. He jumped up into a nearby tree but the chain continued to follow him.

Kakashi jumped back down and the chain hit the branch causing it to crack and fall off the tree.

The girl pulled her arm towards her and her chain went back into the glove.

"I need to find out how to get her to part with that chain," Kakashi whispered to himself. "It's the only way I can get closer to attack head on."

The girl stood there looking at Kakashi, as if she were waiting for him to attack her. He decided to take this chance and attempt to land a hit. He quickly started making hand signs.

"Fire style!" he said. "Fire ball jutsu!" He touched his thumb with his forefinger, putting it in front of his mouth he blew and four fireballs went rushing towards to the mysterious girl.

"That's all you got?" the girl laughed.

She stuck out her right hand again letting the chain come out. She pulled on the chain so she could hit each fireball and they disappeared. Then she lunged forward her arms behind her, she pushed her right arm forward so the chain went rushing at Kakashi again. This time though, it was a direct hit.

"Heh, yes," the girl grinned wildly. But her grin faded into a frown when the Kakashi in front of her disappeared with a poof of smoke. "A clone? Shit."

Then she felt something move beneath her feet. She looked down and right when she did Kakashi came up from underground and uppercut her right in the jaw.

The girl went flying up and then landed on the ground with a thud. She just lay there for a moment. Kakashi smirked under his mask; he caught her off guard without even getting hit by her chain.

Kakashi walked over to her and looked down.

"Ready to tell me who you are now?" he asked.

She just looked up at him. None of her face was exposed, still. She was quiet, but then her figure was blurred and she disappeared. Kakashi looked around again. She would appear and then disappear in random places.

"She's fast," Kakashi said. "I might need to take this fight a little more seriously." Kakashi raised his hand up to the part of his headband that covered his left eye, then lifted the headband so it was perfectly straight on his forehead. He opened the eye revealing his Sharingan.

The girl stopped sprinting from place to place and jumped into a nearby tree without Kakashi noticing.

'_Wow, the Sharingan,'_ she thought to herself. _'He never used that when we were fighting before. Come to think of it, I don't think I've even seen that part of his face…' _She smiled and looked down at him. "I don't want to kill him…" she whispered.

"You had thoughts of killing me?" A lazy voice came from behind her. "That's too bad."

The girl jumped and spun around to see Kakashi on the same branch as her.

How was that possible? She was watching him a second ago when he was on the ground. She didn't even see him move or make hand signs. How was she going to beat him? He was so much stronger now, and with the help of his Sharingan…this looked impossible.

"Alright, we're going to make this quick," Kakashi said in a dangerous tone. "I have to be somewhere." With that he punched the girl in the jaw again as hard as he could.

She flew backwards and hit the trunk of another tree. The hooded girl closed her eyes and winced in pain as she slouched down at the bottom of the tree trunk.

She stood up and cracked her jaw.

"Nice punch," she told Kakashi who jumped down in front of her. She tried to hide the pain her jaw and back were in at the moment to make him think that she was still at her potential strength.

Kakashi just glared at her. He was beginning to get pissed off. Yes, this was a good fight, but right now wasn't the time for a fight! He had to get to his team and back to his village. He had to help protect the people in the village along with Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto.

'_All I want is see who she is,'_ Kakashi thought to himself. _'So, all I have to do is knock that hood back and I'll have gotten what I want.'_

"How about the rest of our little fight is done only with taijutsu?" Kakashi suggested. "How does that sound?"

The girl just looked at him for a moment and then nodded.

"Ok," she said and then she went and side kicked him in the face. Kakashi flew back but did a flip in the air and landed on his feet. He ran towards the girl and began landing punches at an amazing speed.

The mysterious girl had no idea that he could be that fast and was totally caught off guard, she wasn't able to block any of them.

With one last punch to the gut, she fell to her knees and held her stomach.

Kakashi still glared at her. He pulled her up by the collar of her cloak with one hand. She held onto his hand and winced in pain.

"Time to see who the hell you are," he said.

Kakashi quickly pulled off the hood of the girl, but instead of her being there, it was a…scarecrow.

"A scarecrow?"

Then it hit Kakashi, the attack from above, her speed, that familiar chakra, her child-like voice, and now the scarecrow. He knew exactly who she was.

"Rika!" he shouted and looked up in the tree she hid herself in.

Suddenly, there was an explosion from behind Kakashi. He looked around himself to see tons of bombs, another giveaway that it was Rika Isono.

"You cheated," Kakashi said in his cool voice. "What happened to only taijutsu?" he smirked underneath the mask.

"Shut up, or I will kill you!" the girl, who Kakashi believed to be Rika, shouted. She was pissed off now.

"Aw, Ri," Kakashi said and smirked. "You can't kill me, I was your best friend."

The girl growled at him.

"That's it!" she shouted.

She let all the bombs go off at once causing a huge explosion that knocked her off the tree. Dust, smoke, ash, and debris went flying everywhere. Rika got hit with some of it. She coughed because of the dust and smoke.

Once the bombs were gone and the smoke cleared she looked up while lying on her stomach. Long blonde hair spilled out from her hood. Parts of her clothes were torn or scorched. She saw that Kakashi was gone.

"Got him," she said and winced. She was in unbearable pain at the moment.

That last jutsu used up so much of her chakra and she already had used up a lot of her chakra because of the other attacks she did. Kakashi's punches took a lot out of her too; her jaw felt like it was dislocated and every other part of her body felt like it was being stabbed whenever she moved.

"Sorry, but you missed," she heard Kakashi's voice. The girl slowly turned around to see Kakashi standing there with only a couple scratches and some torn parts on his clothes.

She gritted her teeth together.

"WHAT!?" she shouted. _'He's still alive!?'_

Kakashi walked over and kneeled next to her. He slowly turned to girl over so she wouldn't be in too much pain and then he pulled her hood off. Kakashi knew that she wouldn't stop him because if she moved she would just be putting herself in more pain.

Under her hood was long flowing blonde hair. Bangs covered her forehead where she wore a leaf headband. In the metal on the leaf headband Kakashi noticed three marks, like something with claws scratched it.

She also had bright blue eyes. They looked up at Kakashi with anger and pain. 

Next he pulled off the mask that she was wearing that was similar to his. He had been correct, it was Rika. He was so happy she was back. But, why did she come back? Not that he minded. The thing he really wanted to know, though, is why she wanted to kill him.

"Come on," Kakashi said putting his headband back over his Sharingan. "Let's get you to the hospital." He knelt down and was about to pick up Rika when she pushed him away.

"No," she said. "I don't need you or that village's help!" Rika sat up and tried standing up but she was in too much pain to even move.

"Well, if you don't get any help you're just as good as dead," Kakashi told her. "You're chakra is totally wiped out."

Rika just looked up and continued to glare at Kakashi. Kakashi just rolled his eyes and picked the girl up against her will.

"PUT ME DOWN! I'LL HAVE TO KICK YOUR ASS IF YOU DON'T!" she yelled. Rika winced again. Just yelling hurt her.

"Shut up," Kakashi told her as he began sprinting through the trees back to the village. He had to hurry up and get Rika to the hospital, she was in critical condition. Then he had to help protect Konoha from the sand village.

Rika just lay in his arms, glaring at him the whole way there.

'_He still beat me,'_ she thought to herself. _'After all these years of training and everything I've been through, he's still stronger.' _Rika sighed and looked away. She had to get stronger to beat him. But, now…she was starting to not want to kill him. She really had no choice, though.

Rika looked back up at Kakashi, not glaring this time. Her eyes were softer, even sad now. He looked down at her and smiled.

'_She looks scared now,'_ Kakashi thought to himself. _'Maybe she realizes the damage she caused her body.'_

It only took about ten minutes to get back to Konoha. Rika looked at the town. Memories rushed back to her mind of when she was younger and all of her friends. She sighed again; sometimes she wished she never left. Maybe things would've been better for her.

Then, Rika noticed all the fighting going on in the town. She saw many ANBU members and other ninja that she recognized. She was confused on what was going on, though.

"What's happening?" she asked looking up at Kakashi.

"I'll explain later," he told her glaring at a passing sand villager. He continued to sprint to the hospital, which only took him another few minutes.

He walked in. Nurses and doctors were rushing every which way. The hospital was so busy and the air was filled with worry. So many ninja were getting injured by people from the sand village.

Kakashi ran up to the front desk and looked at the nurse who was standing there. She wore traditional white nurse clothes and had shoulder length black hair with big brown eyes.

"Oh, hello Kakashi," she said, happily and smiled. "How can I help you?"

"Her chakra is completely gone and I think she dislocated her jaw and her back is hurt as well," Kakashi explained. A/n: Would you be able to talk with a dislocated jaw? I'm not sure, so I'm gonna say yes for now!)

The nurse's expression stayed the same as she looked at Rika.

"Yes, right this way," she said. "I hope you don't mind carrying her, Kakashi. We're out of stretchers and wheelchairs because of all the patients we have."

Kakashi nodded and followed the nurse down a few hallways until they reached a regular hospital room. There was a hospital bed, machines, a bathroom, a table and one window in the room. Almost everything in there was white.

"Lay her down," the nurse instructed Kakashi. He did as he was told and put Rika down in the bed. She grimaced in pain as he did so.

The nurse examined what she could of Rika before turning back to Kakashi.

"She's going to be fine," she said. "We just need to run a few tests and bandage her up. So, I'll be needing you to leave for now."

Kakashi nodded and looked at Rika.

"I'll be back, Ri," he said. Rika just looked at him with a tired expression and nodded.

Kakashi, then, left the hospital and ran off to see how his comrades and students were doing in the battles.

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Nori: YAY! Done! Whoaa!

Tama: Stop adding so fast….

Nori: I can't help it! WEEEEEEEE! READ AND REVIEW NEXT CHAPPIE WILL BE UP SOON!

Tama: No flames please.


	7. Bad News

Nori::is dancing around:: AND I WON'T SAY A WORD!!!!

Tama: What are you singing?

Nori: Blessthefall of course!

Tama: Ah, good song!

Nori: Yes it is. And all you YYH fans out there need to watch this video. It's the music video to New Friend Request by Evergreen Terrace. If you listen to the guy who sings, not the one that screams, but the one that sings, he sounds EXACTLY like what Kuwabara would sound if he could sing!

Tama: It's scary actually…

Nori: Yes, so listen, I don't own this so don't sue me, the link won't work on here so just go to YouTube (which I don't own) and type in this: "new friend request-evergreen terrace" and a video should come up for it.

Tama: Watch it!

Nori: Do it. Anyway, I'll do my own disclaimer. I don't own Naruto or the characters but I do own all the OC's and ideas!

Tama: Let's go!

Nori: HEY! NO WAY MAN! THAT'S MY JOB!

Tama: Then say it…

Nori: LET'S GO::smiles big::

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Rika lay in the hospital bed asleep. It was evening now. Moonlight spilled through the one window in Rika's room. The night was clear; every star was visible in the sky. The village seemed calm and quiet now that the fighting had ceased.

Rika wore the hospital robes the doctors had given her. Her leaf headband lay on the table next to her bed and her clothes and weapons were hung on the chair that sat in the corner of the hospital rooms.

The doctors had run many tests and took x-rays of Rika and said that her jaw wasn't dislocated; she just pulled muscles in it. And her cuts and bruises would eventually heal on their own.

It was Rika's back and chakra that the doctors were really worried about. A few disks in Rika's spine had been moved out of place. The doctors were able to reset them, but it would take about five days for her to be able to really move without feeling any pain.

They hoped that Rika's chakra supply would replenish itself. They decided to keep her overnight to run tests and make sure it was coming back like it should.

Rika slowly opened her eyes when a nurse walked in. This nurse had short blonde hair and bright green eyes. She was much older than Rika. She wore the regular nurse uniform.

"Rika, dear," she said walking over to the bedside. "How are you feeling?"

Rika tried sitting up but winced in pain.

"Ow," was her only response. The nurse looked at her with sympathy in her eyes.

"Lay back down," the nurse told her, "And try to turn so you're on your stomach if you can."

Rika did as the nurse instructed. She moved very slowly because whenever she made a sudden movement the pain in her back would become even worse.

The nurse lifted up Rika's shirt and examined her back. She pressed on a few areas along her spine, which caused Rika to cringe, but she had felt worse pain than this before. This was nothing.

When the nurse was finished checking Rika's back she put her shirt back down and helped her lay more comfortably.

"You're back is doing well so far," the nurse told her. She walked over to the machines that were monitoring Rika's chakra flow. "Everything looks good here so far too," the nurse smiled. "You're one tough chick."

Rika just smiled a bit at the nurse.

"I'll come back to check on you later," she said. "In the meantime, you have a visitor."

Rika tilted her head to the side. Who was coming to see her this late? Then she remembered, it was Kakashi. He told her that he would come back later.

Rika was still angry at how Kakashi had treated her before, but that was seven years ago. Maybe he would actually apologize for what he said and did. But, it did feel so good to see him again. She wanted to see Anko and the Hokage, too. She had missed them all so much. She even wanted to see Ayumu and Iruka.

There was a knock at her hospital room door. She saw a certain masked face peek in.

"Is it alright if I come in?" he asked.

Rika nodded and Kakashi walked into her room. He looked at her and all the machines around her; some were hooked onto her arm.

"I'm sorry about hurting you like that," he told her. _'I still want to know why she wanted to kill me. But, I'll ask about that at a better time.'_

Rika shrugged.

"Not a big deal," she told him. "It was a fair fight."

Kakashi smiled under his mask and looked at the floor. Rika noticed something different about him that how he was earlier and from how she remembered him seven years ago. He seemed sad right now. Even thought most of his face was covered, Rika could see the sadness in his visible eye.

"Is there something wrong, Kakashi?" Rika asked.

Kakashi looked at her and sighed. How was he going to tell her this?

"Uh, Ri…" his voice trailed off. "I have bad news."

Rika tilted her head in confusion. What could've happened that's so horrible that it made Kakashi sad? She had no idea what he was about to say.

"What is it?" Rika asked, curious about what he was going to tell her.

"The Third Hokage," Kakashi continued to look down. "He's…dead."

Rika's blue eyes went wide in horror and shock. Her mouth fell open. Chills went through her whole body. She just froze.

'_How could this happen?'_ She asked herself. _'How is he gone? He was so strong! He can't be dead, he just can't be! I didn't even go see him, yet, now that I'm back! He can't be gone!'_

Kakashi just looked at Rika. He stepped closer to her bed.

"Ri?" he said. "Are you ok?"

Rika just looked at Kakashi with wide eyes still.

"When? How? Why?" questions poured out of her mouth. "I didn't even get to tell him I'm back yet…"

Kakashi's eyes shifted to the side, looking away from Rika. She noticed his sadness turned into anger.

"Earlier today," he said softly, "It was Orochimaru," anger filled his voice now. Rika gasped.

"He's back?" she asked. "Where's Anko? Is she ok? He didn't get to her, too, did he?"

Kakashi closed his eyes and shook his head.

"Anko's fine," he confirmed. "The two fought, but she came out alive…barely."

Rika let out a sigh of relief. Her best friend was ok, that's good, but the Hokage…

"I can't believe it," Rika said. "He's gone."

Kakashi sat down in a chair that had Rika's clothes on it. He sat balancing his elbows on his knees and holding his hands together.

"I know," he said. "He was a great man." Rika nodded.

"He helped take care of me after my family and Yondaime-sensei died," she said.

She was on the brink of tears now, but she knew she couldn't cry. Especially not in front of Kakashi, she would look even weaker than she felt then.

"Yea…he was there when my dad killed himself," Kakashi said. He leaned back in the chair. Rika saw that his hands were clenched into fists.

"When is the funeral?" she asked.

"Tomorrow," Kakashi told her. Rika nodded.

"I'm going," she said. Kakashi just looked at her.

"You're in no condition to walk," he said. "The doctor told me that you aren't able to move for five days."

"I don't care," she told him sternly. "I have to be there, I can't just miss it! He did so much for me, I need to say goodbye."

Kakashi sighed and sat there for a moment. Finally, he nodded and stood up.

"I'll be back before the funeral, around ten," he said. "I need to check on my students now."

Rika looked at him.

"Students?" she asked before he walked out of the room. "You're a teacher?"

Kakashi nodded.

"My team is made up of three strong, great kids," he said. "You'll meet them tomorrow." Then, he left the room.

Rika looked down. The Hokage was really gone. Now that Kakashi left the room, silent tears poured down her face. She wanted him back, he was the closest thing she had to a father after Yondaime and her real father had passed away.

Well, actually, Yondaime was the only thing she had close to a real father before he died, her real father had never been anything special in her life now that she thought about it. She always hated the man. He would constantly beat her when she was home, one of the reasons why she became a ninja. She had never told anyone of the things he had done though.

Rika wiped the tears from her cheeks and closed her eyes. She wanted to try and rest as much as she could before tomorrow. She had to get out of the hospital to go to the funeral and she wanted to do it as painless as possible.

_-With Kakashi-_

Kakashi walked down many hospital hallways. His hands were in his pockets and he was looking down.

A nurse walked passed him and stopped. This nurse was younger than both Kakashi and Rika. It seemed as if she just got her job.

"Uh, sir," she said. "Visiting hours are over."

Kakashi looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

"My students are here," he said still not turning his head in her direction. "My job is to make sure they're alright. I'm staying as long as I please."

The nurse looked shocked with the way he was talking to her. She was going to kick him out but then she realized he was a jonin. A very unhappy one at that. She decided to just nod and leave him alone then.

Kakashi walked down a flight of stairs and a hallway to get to Sasuke's hospital room. During his fight with Gaara he had been injured and needed to be hospitalized. Kakashi wanted to check up on his student.

He walked into his room and saw the young Uchiha asleep. Kakashi smiled, even though Sasuke usually did better than he did today, he was still proud of him.

He was proud of Naruto and Sakura today as well. The three all had done an amazing job in protecting their home.

Kakashi sat down in the chair in the corner of the room, similar to Rika's. He lay back and closed his eyes. He planned on just staying there for the night to make sure Sasuke was all right. He had to come back anyway tomorrow to help Rika to the funeral.

Naruto was in the hospital, too, but Kakashi knew he would be just fine. He was more worried with Sasuke because of the strange mark on his shoulder. Sasuke wanted to keep it a secret but during his fight in the chuunin exams it showed up again. Kakashi attempted to seal it, but for some reason his seal never worked.

---

Kakashi awoke early the next morning not realizing that he had fallen asleep in Sasuke's hospital room. He stood up and stretched a bit. He looked at the bed and saw his student still asleep.

"Better get him up," he said to himself.

Kakashi shook the Uchiha gently.

"Sasuke, we have to go," he told him. Sasuke slowly stirred and opened his eyes. He sat up in his bed and looked at Kakashi.

"When did you get here?" he asked groggily.

"That's not important," Kakashi said. "Get up…today's the funeral."

Sasuke looked away from his sensei. Being asleep for as long as he was made him totally forget about the Hokage's death. No matter how much Sasuke didn't show any emotion and how he always seemed annoyed with everyone in his village, he was saddened by the loss.

"I'll get ready," he said and climbed out of the hospital bed. Kakashi noticed that he looked like he was recovering well, which was a good sign.

Sasuke walked in the bathroom and put on a black shirt and black pants. An appropriate outfit that all shinobi were to wear to a funeral. He tied his leaf headband on his forehead and walked back out to see Kakashi still there waiting. He looked deep in thought sitting on the chair, his chin balanced on a fist.

He looked up and saw Sasuke ready, so he stood up and walked to the door.

"I have to get someone," he told the boy. "Meet up with Naruto and Sakura and I'll see you three there."

Sasuke just nodded and without another word the two went off in their own directions.

---

Rika sat on her bed in the hospital up and ready to go. She had gotten up rather early so she could get ready for the funeral. Usually it only took her about ten to fifteen minutes to get ready in the morning, but with her back in this much pain, it made it harder to get around.

Rika looked at the clock on her bedside. It read ten after ten. Rika shook her head.

"He's late again," she said. "He really hasn't changed."

Just then Kakashi walked into Rika's hospital room. He looked sad and tired, like he had slept badly.

"Sorry I'm late," he said, this time not coming up with any lame excuses.

Rika just nodded and stood up. She wobbled a bit before regaining her balance.

"They didn't give you crutches or anything?" Kakashi asked walking over to her side. Rika shook her head. Kakashi sighed and put his arm around her waist and grabbed her arm to put it over his shoulders.

"I don't need help," Rika said bitterly, trying to pull away. Kakashi tightened his grip on her waist and just began to walk.

Kakashi signed Rika out of the hospital and told her main nurse that she would be staying at his house. Rika objected saying she could take care of herself and that she didn't need his help. Kakashi just shot her one of the deadliest glares and she shut her mouth. Today Kakashi wasn't in the mood to put up with anything.

They left the hospital and began to make their way to the funeral.

"Let's visit the memorial stone first," Kakashi said after about ten minutes of silence.

"That sounds like a good idea," she said softly as the two turned a corner to get to the stone where all the names of every shinobi from the village that was K.I.A. were engraved on.

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Nori: There, chapter seven is complete!

Tama: You're getting pretty far on this.

Nori: I know! But…sadly I won't be able to update again until September! I'm going on vacation for the week! I'm sorry everyone!

Audience::sad faces::

Nori::sobs:: DON'T WORRY! When I come back, I will start the next chapter immediately, and I'm going to update Endless Consequences one more time before I leave so don't miss out on that!

Tama: Read and review, no flames please!


	8. Funeral Day

Nori: Heyaa! Here we are, at chapter eight!

Audience::cheers::

Nori::bows:: Thank you, thank you. Before we begin I would just like to thank all my loyal reviewers! I really appreciate all the people reading this, even if you don't review and add my fic to your favorites or alert list, it makes me happy…so THANKIES!!!!!

Tama: Wow, that was nice of you to say.

Nori: I know, I'm just that awesome. ::grins::

Tama::rolls eyes:: So, who's doing the disclaimer today?

Nori::thinks:: Hm…I think it should beeeeeeeee….KIBA!!!

Kiba::looks at Nori:: Damn, I though she would forget about me…::sighs:: Nori does not own Naruto or the characters in it, but she does own all the OC's and ideas.

Nori: LET'S GO!

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Rika and Kakashi walked silently over to the memorial stone near the training grounds. The two stopped once they got there and just stared at the rock. So many names of people were written on it. Among those names were ones that Kakashi and Rika had both grown to love.

The two stood there, praying silently for those they had lost. There were so many they could think of. Each one K.I.A. It was a terrible thing. If the two didn't have each other, along with Anko and even Ayumu and Iruka, they would be lost. Especially, at a time like this, after the Third Hokage's death.

When Rika finished praying she looked up at the sky. It was dark and cloudy, perfect weather to fit the mood of the day.

"We should leave soon," Rika said who was sitting on her knees with her back straight so she wouldn't be in pain. Kakashi stood next to her. The both were dressed in all black, Kakashi in a black shirt and pants along with his mask and headband. Rika was in a black long sleeved dress that stopped above her knees. She too wore her headband under her bangs and her long blonde hair flew freely in the small breeze.

"Not now," Kakashi said in almost a whisper. "I want to stay longer."

Rika said nothing and just looked back at the stone. Then the two heard footsteps behind them. Neither looked back.

"Kakashi, shouldn't you get to the funeral," the voice said as they walked closer. "You're going to be late again." It was a woman.

Rika turned and looked, she recognized that voice. Standing behind the two was Anko. Her long purple hair was down and her purple eyes looked sad. She wore the same dress as Rika and had her headband on her forehead. She carried a bouquet of flowers.

"Anko?" Rika asked and smiled. She had missed her friend so much.

Anko looked down at Rika, she had barely noticed her sitting there before. Today she was not happy and had not been paying attention that much because of the village's loss.

When Anko saw her old friend she gasped dropping the flowers. Anko put her hand in front of her dropped jaw.

"Rika?" she said, Rika saw tears forming in the corner of her eyes. Rika slowly stood up, Kakashi bent down and offered to help but she declined. She was still pissed at him and she wanted to be able to move on her own.

Rika walked over to Anko and hugged her. Anko hugged back. The two cried, both tears of joy and sadness. Joy because they missed each other so much after Rika had left for seven years and sadness because of the death of the Hokage.

"I'm so glad you're back," Anko told her best friend. Rika nodded.

"I'm sorry I didn't say anything before I left," she told her. "And about the Hokage."

"I know…" Anko said. "He was too good to die the way he did."

Rika nodded while wiping tears away. Anko wiped hers away as well. Kakashi just watched the little reunion. He was so glad that Rika was back. Now that he saw her again, he wasn't sure how he survived without her. It still bothered him the way she tried to kill him and how she was acting towards him, he couldn't figure out why though.

"Come on, Kakashi," Anko said. "We need to get to the ceremony."

Kakashi looked back at the stone and nodded. He walked over to the two kunoichi and put his arm around Rika's waist again to help her walk. Anko also helped.

_-At the Funeral-_

There were rows and rows of people. All dressed in black. Children were in front and adults stood in back. They stood in front of a large table with pictures of the jonin, people that passed during the fight with the sand village, the past Hokage's and the Third, who had just died.

The sky was still dark and cloudy. Rain began to drizzle over everyone.

Kakashi, Anko, and Rika all walked over to where the other jonin and chuunin stood, right behind the genin.

"Can you stand?" Anko whispered. Rika nodded and Kakashi and Anko both let go of her.

A row ahead of the three was Kakashi's team. Sakura looked back at her sensei and noticed a blonde girl standing between him and Anko. She turned to Sasuke who stood to her right.

"Sasuke," she whispered. "Who is that woman with Kakashi-sensei?"

Sasuke looked at her then looked back at his teacher. He saw Rika and turned back to look forward.

"I'm not sure," he said. "Kakashi told me he needed to pick up someone, it was probably her."

Sakura looked back at Rika again and noticed how long her hair was.

"Do you think she's the one that the clip belonged to?" she whispered to her teammate.

Sasuke looked at her with a confused look on his face.

"Clip?" he asked. Sakura nodded.

"Remember?" she asked. "When we were training to fight Zabuza…"

---

Kakashi stood upside down on a tree branch in the middle of a large forest in the land of waves. Crutches were under his arms. He looked down at his three students.

"_All you need to do is concentrate enough chakra to your feet and it can be done," he told them._

_Sakura and Naruto looked at him like he was crazy. How were they to climb a tree without using their hands? And how did this have anything to do with fighting Zabuza? This was going to be a bit of a challenge. Sasuke had no emotion on his face._

_Kakashi threw three kunai down at them. Each one landed stuck in the ground in front of their feet._

"_When you begin to fall I want you to mark how far you got with those kunai," he told them. The three nodded and were about to get started on their assignment, but they noticed something fall from Kakashi's back pouch. He looked down trying to see what fell. Sakura walked over to it and picked it up._

"_Uh, Kakashi-sensei?" she said._

"_Yes, Sakura," he answered as he slowly began to walk back down the tree._

"_Why do you have a hairclip?" she asked. "You're not a girl."_

_Kakashi got to the ground and walked over to the young girl. He took the clip from her hands._

"_It's nothing," he said slipping it back into his pouch._

"_No, it's not-" Sakura was saying but Kakashi interrupted her._

"_Get to work, Sakura," he told her, causing her to nod and drop the subject._

---

"I don't know," Sasuke told her after she explained. "Ask him later." He said trying to get her to stop talking. The ceremony had begun a few minutes ago and now it was time for the kids to bring forward their flowers.

Each one of them took a turn placing their white rose near the picture of the Third. Every time one child put their flower there, they remembered times they shared with the man.

Naruto walked back to the spot he was standing, next to Konohamaru and near Iruka and Kakashi. Naruto looked next to him at the young boy, he was sobbing. The Third Hokage was his grandfather and he was gone. Naruto didn't blame him for crying; he was so young and lost someone so close.

Iruka looked at Konohamaru and pulled him into a hug. It was a hard time and the boy needed someone to comfort him. Iruka didn't say a word.

Naruto stared at them sadly. He couldn't stop wondering why someone so great had to die. It was bothering him so much.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said loud enough for him to hear.

"Yes, Naruto?" Kakashi asked looking down at the boy.

"Why do people risk their lives trying to protect other people?" he asked. "I just don't get it."

Rika looked at Kakashi who was standing next to her. She guessed that the blonde boy was one of his students. She waited for him to answer the boy.

"It's hard to explain to a kid your age," Kakashi said. "But, he left us something priceless. Don't worry, though, you'll understand one day."

"Yea," Naruto said. "I'm just sad he's gone…" His voice trailed off.

Rika looked at him with sad eyes. She was sad too, everyone was. The Third was a great man; out of everyone at that funeral he was the last person who deserved death.

"The rain," Rika heard a soft voice in front of her. She looked at a girl with pink hair and bright green eyes. "It stopped."

Rika looked up and noticed in fact, that the rain was gone now. The sun and a vibrant blue sky peeked out from behind the dark storm clouds.

The funeral was over then. Everyone had said his or her last goodbyes.

Rika walked next to Kakashi. The two didn't say a word to each other.

"Kakashi-sensei!" a raspy child's voice came from behind them. It was the same blonde hair, blue-eyed boy that asked Kakashi that question. The pink-haired girl and a boy with raven hair and eyes followed him.

"Hello, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura," Kakashi said. His eye curving telling he was glad to see the three. They all ran over to their sensei and Rika.

"Hey, who's this lady?" Naruto asked, pointing his thumb to Rika.

"This is one of my old comrades, Rika Isono," Kakashi said introducing her. "She left the village for awhile, she will be staying with me and probably helping me teach the three of you. She's from a very powerful clan."

Rika smiled and waved at the kids.

"Hey, you look a lot like my sexy jutsu! Except hotter!" Naruto shouted and giggled pervertedly. That caused Sakura to whack him on the head. Naruto fell to the ground in pain.

"NARUTO YOU ARE SUCH A PERV! But, wow, you are so pretty! I love your hair!" Sakura shouted rushing over to her touching the blonde locks. "It's so long and soft! How do you get it so soft, anyway? I tried all different shampoos and nothing works for me!" the girl was talking so fast that Rika could barely understand her.

"Uh," she rubbed the back of her head. "I just use the cheap shampoo I'm able to afford."

Sakura nodded and smiled. She was happy she was finally going to be training with another female. She loved her team to death, but hanging around guys all the time got a bit annoying.

"The Isono Clan?" Sasuke, who had been just rolling his eyes at his teammates, spoke up. "Doesn't that clan specialize in explosives?"

Rika nodded.

"Yes, it does," she said. She slowly walked over to Sasuke, her back still hurt like hell. She knelt down to his level and squinted her eyes, staring at the young Uchiha. He looked at her like she was crazy.

"What?" he asked.

"You look like you have a lot of potential," Rika said. "You're a Uchiha, aren't you?"

Sasuke nodded, wondering how she figured it out so easily.

"Maybe, I'll teach you one of my explosive jutsus one day," she said, slowly getting up with the help of Kakashi.

"What's wrong, Rika?" Sakura asked when she noticed Kakashi having to help her.

"Just a little back injury," she said. "I'll be better in a couple days."

Sakura nodded but still had a worried look on her face.

"There will be no lessons for a few days until Rika is recovered," Kakashi told his students. "Enjoy your break."

"Yes!" Sakura said thrusting her fist into the air. She turned to Sasuke. "Hey, uh, Sasuke? Do you want to hang out or something later? If you're not busy or anything," she said blushing a bit.

"No," he said plainly and walked away. Sakura looked down sadly and walked her own way too. Naruto followed her.

"We can always hang out, Sakura," he said.

"Not now, Naruto," Sakura told him. "I need to go sulk."

As the kids walked away Rika smiled. They were so young and innocent. She wished she could still be like that, but she was far from it.

"Let's go, Rika," Kakashi said turning away. Rika nodded and followed slowly back to his house. She noticed it was different from the one he had years ago.

"Wow, you actually bought a new house?" she asked, shocked. Before Kakashi was always too broke to buy one.

"Yea…after my roof caved in and you left, I had nowhere to stay," he said rubbing the back of his head. Rika just smirked and the two walked into his home.

"Well, this is safe," she said. "No locks on your doors." She examined the door.

"I bought a new house, but didn't want to waste my money on locks when I'm barely ever home," he explained. Rika shrugged, he had a point. "Come on, you can stay in my bedroom."

Rika just looked at the copy ninja.

"I don't even want to be staying in this town," she said. "What makes you think I'm going to take your own bed away from you?"

"Just shut up and come on," he said. "Your back is hurt, I don't think a couch or the floor would help anything."

"No, I'm not," Rika said crossing her arms, turning her head away from him and sticking her nose up in the air.

Kakashi rolled his eyes; he was really beginning to get annoyed with this kunoichi. He walked over to her and picked her up.

Rika growled at him.

"DON'T PICK ME UP!" she shouted and squirmed. Then she winced in pain, she kept forgetting about her back.

Kakashi chuckled quietly at how immature Rika still acted even though she was twenty-four years old now. Kakashi walked into his bedroom and lay Rika down on his bed. She let out a sigh of relief, he was right, just being on a more comfortable surface made her back feel a bit better already.

"You should get some rest," Kakashi told her. "I'll be in the living room if you need anything."

Rika nodded.

"I'll make sure I'll call for you in the most annoying way possible," she said with a straight face. Kakashi sweatdropped and walked to the doorway.

"Uh, dude…" Rika said quietly. Kakashi turned around.

"Yes?" he said.

"Thanks," she told him and looked away.

Kakashi smiled softly under his mask.

"It's nothing," he said. "When I needed someplace to stay, you did it for me. Now go to sleep."

Rika nodded and slowly turned on her side facing away from Kakashi.

Kakashi continued to smile even when she had her back facing him. He just the bedroom door halfway and walked away.

'_I really wish I didn't have to do this…'_ Rika said touching the dagger hidden by a strap of fabric around her upper thigh. She sighed and then drifted off to sleep.

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Nori: GAH! Finally, done, that took me longer than I wanted to, but I was stuck for awhile.

Tama: At least you aren't as stuck as I am…

Nori: Good point…but anywayssss please read and review, NO FLAMES!


	9. Vansu Yuzuko

Nori: YAY! CHAPTER NINE!

Tama: WHOOO!

Nori: LET'S PARTY!

Tama: YES!

Nori: I DON'T OWN NARUTO OR THE CHARACTERS BUT I DO OWN ALL THE OC'S AND IDEAS!

Tama: READ IT!

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Five days went by rather quickly for Rika. She had to rest most of the time because Kakashi wouldn't let her move too much. She was kind of glad he didn't let her move a lot because she really didn't want to injure herself further. She had a job she needed to get done once she was able to leave again.

One the morning of the fifth day of Rika's stay, the alarm next to Kakashi's bed went off. Rika opened her eyes and rubbed the sleep out of them. She hit the alarm clock to turn it off and then looked at the time. It was five o'clock AM.

"What the hell?" Rika said groggily. "I didn't even set this."

"Sorry," Kakashi's voice came from the doorway. "I set it. I have a lesson with my students today. I thought you might like to come."

Rika stared at the jonin. Since when did he ever even attempt to be on time for something?

"Wait," Rika said. "Since when do you go to places on time?"

Kakashi chuckled.

"Oh, no," he said. "I'll still make them wait. Now, you should get ready. I'll be watching TV." With that Kakashi turned and walked out of the room.

Rika closed her eyes and giggled. That was Kakashi for you. Always making people wait.

Suddenly, Rika heard the window swing open and her door slam shut. She jumped a bit, not expecting it to happen. Then, a man appeared in front of Kakashi's bed. Rika's eyes were wide in shock; she didn't even sense his chakra coming.

The man was tall, around six feet. His hair was shaggy and blonde, he had grey eyes filled with hate. The man wore black baggy pants with many pockets. Around his waist was a red scarf-like belt. He had on a short red vest that showed off his muscular body. In one ear he had a small silver hoop. He wore no shinobi headband.

"You didn't kill him yet?" the man exclaimed in a whisper so that Kakashi wouldn't hear.

Rika moved back.

"I'm sorry, Vansu," she said afraid of what he might do next.

"I told you what I would do if you didn't kill him!" Vansu said, still in a whisper. "I'll kill him AND you! If I can't have you then no one can!"

Rika looked away and gulped. She pulled the blanket up to her chest.

"I'll do it," she said. "Give me more time. Please. I was hurt."

Vansu glared at the blonde kunoichi. He crossed his arms.

"Fine," he said. "You have seven days, starting tomorrow." (A/n: Haha, seven days!)

Rika nodded and wouldn't make eye contact with the man. He walked back towards the window. Vansu turned and looked back at Rika. She only looked at him out of the corner of her eye.

"If you fail," he said in a warning tone. "You're as good as dead." With that, he jumped out of the window.

Rika didn't say anything as he left. She was too afraid to speak, Vansu was a dangerous man.

After Rika had left the village seven years ago she traveled alone for a while. Everywhere she went she was cold and distant to the people around her. She sat in a bar one night and was drinking sake. The bar was filled with people. Some young, some old, some attractive, others…not so good looking. Vansu was the one who approached her at the bar.

"_Hey sweetie," he had said to her. "You're gorgeous."_

_Rika just looked at him and laughed._

"_Shut the hell up," she told him. He smirked at her._

"_No, it's true," he said. "You're the prettiest girl here."_

_Rika smiled at him. That had to have been one of the nicest things anyone had ever said to her._

"_Wow," she said, her cheeks a light pink. "Thank you." Vansu sat down next to her._

"_So, what's a pretty girl like you doing here alone?" he asked. Rika sat there for a moment, only looking at her drink. _

"_I'm not from this village," she told him. "I left my home awhile ago." Vansu looked at Rika with sad eyes, then he looked at his hands._

"_Oh," he said softly. "I left my home a few years back, too." Rika looked over at him and smiled. She put a hand on his shoulder._

"_Want to come where I'm staying?" she had asked him. "We can talk in private."_

_Vansu nodded and smiled softly._

"_I would really like that," he said._

Rika shuddered at the thought of what happened after that. It's something she wanted to forget for seven years now, but she knew she never would.

The two were sitting in the hotel room that Rika had rented for the night. She was headed to the Sand Village the next day and this town was right in between it and Konoha.

"_I never caught your name," Rika said. "What is it?"_

"_My name is Vansu Yuzuko," he told her. "I'm not sure of your name either."_

"_Rika," she said. "Rika Isono."_

_The two sat on the hotel bed and just talked. Vansu told Rika about how his family disowned him when he was only thirteen years old. He was trying to become a ninja in the village hidden in the mist. He had become so strong there but just couldn't bring himself to kill his classmates. His parents were very ashamed of him, and that's how he was forced to leave his home._

_Rika explained to him her relationships with people in Konoha. She explained how Anko was her best friend and how they would always just goof around. She explained how Ayumu always looked out for her, but was too strict most of the time and looked down to her. And then she described Kakashi. She told him how Kakashi was the only person she could let her guard down around and how she could talk to him about anything really._

_Then Rika got to the part about what happened a few months back with the giant lizard demon. She told Vansu about the fight and how she was going to get ready to kill the demon when Kakashi stopped her and said something that made her feel so disrespected and how that made her realize no one took her seriously and she just had to leave._

"_Wow," Vansu said when she finished her story._

"_Yea," Rika said and lay back on the bed. "I don't know if I can ever forgive him, let alone go back to my home."_

"_I don't blame you," Vansu said and looked at Rika. "I don't know how anyone could treat such a strong, beautiful girl like that."_

_Rika smiled. She really liked this Vansu guy even though they had just met a few hours ago. He was so sweet, and not to mention very attractive. They both shared a similar past as well, having to leave their homes because of the people they thought loved them._

_Then, out of nowhere, Vansu leaned down and kissed Rika on the lips. At first, Rika's eyes were wide in shock, should she be doing this now? But then she gave in, closed her eyes and kissed back. After a couple minutes the two broke apart to get some air._

_Rika lay there looking up into Vansu's hypnotic grey eyes and Vansu stared back into Rika's mesmerizing blue ones._

"_Do you want to-" Vansu was cut off by Rika's lips crashing onto his again. _

_She flipped him over so she was on top of him and she pulled off his shirt. She smirked._

"_I take that as a yes," he said and smirked back, kissing her again._

Rika shivered at the thought. She couldn't believe she actually did that. What possessed her mind at that the moment? Then she remembered. That was before Vansu changed. Before he turned into the cold-hearted bastard that she knows today.

After that night, Vansu and Rika began to travel together. They became inseparable. The two made a great team when they had to fight bandits and other enemies they had met on their journey.

_Then, after about a year, Vansu began to change. He started treating Rika like she was just a toy, nothing more. He would always just want to sleep with her and when she refused he would hit her. Vansu was so strong; she started to become afraid of being around him._

_One day Rika decided that she wanted to go back to her village. She thought maybe there would be someone there that would help her. Plus, no matter how much she hated to admit it, she was really beginning to miss everyone there._

_Vansu and Rika were walking through a jungle they had come across._

"_Vansu…" Rika said softly. Vansu glared at her._

"_What do you want?" he asked._

"_I-I," she started to say. "I think I'm going to head back to my village."_

_  
Vansu stopped in his tracks and just starred at the kunoichi._

"_What?" he asked. Rika gulped._

"_I want to go back to my home," she told him, a bit louder this time. Vansu grit his teeth and slapped her with the back of his hand across her face. Rika fell to the ground with wide eyes and her hand on the spot he had hit._

"_You just want to go back to Kakashi," he growled. "He likes you and you like him. I can tell from all the things you say even though you claim to hate him now. You want him to help you get away from me."_

_Rika shook her head. Tears were forming in her eyes. What the hell did she get herself into?_

"_No," she said. "That's not it." Vansu knelt down to her level._

"_Then what the hell is it!?" he shouted. Rika winced._

"_I just want to go home," she told him. "I miss it." Vansu glared at her again._

"_No," he said. "I know you want to go back to Kakashi. I'm not letting you! No one can have you but me! You got that?"_

"_I'm not a piece of fucking property!" Rika gathered the courage to shout at him. "You can't fucking own me! I can go where ever I want!" Rika slapped a hand over her mouth after that outburst. A look of fear spread over her face._

_Vansu grabbed Rika by the collar of her shirt and brought her face closer to his._

"_Fine then," he said. "You can go back to you're stupid village. But, on one condition."_

"_What?" Rika asked, afraid of his answer._

"_You have to kill Kakashi Hatake."_

Rika sighed. She still wasn't sure what made Vansu change like that. She loved how he used to be. He was such a great guy back then.

But, after Vansu told Rika she had to kill Kakashi, she decided to stay with him longer. No matter how mad she was at him she couldn't have killed him back then. So Vansu trained her. He would tell her horrible things about Kakashi that he had heard from people as they traveled and these things would make Rika grow angry with Kakashi.

So, here she was, seven years later, back in Konoha. She knew she had to kill Kakashi, she still for some reason wanted to do it, but at the same time she didn't. She wasn't sure why, though. She didn't know if it was that she still hadn't forgiven him for what he did long ago, or if it was all the things Vansu had told her.

Rika got up from her bed and decided she better get ready instead of reminiscing on the past. She walked over to a small dresser that Kakashi had where she put her clothes. Kakashi's student, Sakura, had gotten Rika a couple of outfits since she figured the only one she had was the one she wore when she got here and her funeral clothes that the hospital had supplied.

Rika was thankful to the girl; she really didn't want to wear that same old outfit everyday. It made her look like a slut. Vansu had gotten the outfit for her. He told her that she looked better when she showed more skin. Rika was disgusted with it, but she wore it just so Vansu wouldn't kill her.

Rika grabbed an outfit from the dresser and walked into the bathroom that was connected to Kakashi's room. She turned on the water in the shower, then got undressed and stepped into it. The warm water felt so good on her skin. Especially, her sore back.

Once Rika finished showering she threw on a robe. Then, she washed her face and brushed her teeth and hair. Rika threw off the robe and got dressed, then did her makeup. She took a hair tie and put up her lock blonde hair into a messy bun. She looked at herself in the mirror.

Rika wore a red t-shirt that looked like it was all ripped at the stomach. Attached to the shirts collar with two strips of black fabric was a plain black choker. She wore baggy black shorts that stopped at mid-thigh, and then it turned to baggy fishnet down to her knees. She wore regular shinobi sandals and her shins were wrapped with white bandages. Around her wrists were two metal bands, kind of like armor but smaller.

She walked out of the bathroom and through the bedroom door to where Kakashi sat, like he said watching TV. He looked over at Rika when he heard her coming.

"What took you?" he asked, smirking. Rika rolled her eyes.

"Are we leaving or what?" she asked crossing her arms. "I'm sick of just being in this house. I need some fresh air."

Kakashi turned off the TV. He stood up and stretched.

"Alright," he said. "Let's get going. They are probably waiting by now, anyways."

Rika nodded and the two walked out of the house. The two didn't talk much, they really didn't say much to each other in the past five days, either. They walked silently through the town until they got to the training grounds where Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto waited.

The three looked up when they heard them coming.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto shouted. "YOU'RE LATE!"

"Sorry," Kakashi said. "But, this time it was Rika's fault." Hearing this Rika glared daggers at him. It was not her fault whatsoever for them being late!

"Sensei!" Sakura shouted. "Don't blame Rika for you're tardiness!"

"Whatever," Kakashi sighed lazily. "By the way, the three of you are to call Rika, Rika-sempai from now on. She will be helping me teach the three of you."

The kids all nodded, obeying their sensei.

"What are we working on today, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto asked. Sasuke said nothing; he leaned against a pole with his arms crossed and eyes closed.

"Today we are going to work with weapons," Kakashi said. "I know you all have only been introduced to a couple weapons, but by the end of the day I want you to have almost mastered a weapon of your choice."

"I didn't bring any of my weapons with me," Rika told Kakashi. "How will we teach them?"

Rika didn't notice though, that Kakashi was carrying a bag filled with a few various weapons and in the bag was Rika's katana and bladed chain. He held up the bag, showing it to her.

She smiled sheepishly.

"Oh," she said and rubbed the back of her head. Kakashi tossed her the two weapons and she caught them. Then he threw the bag down in front of him.

"Pick one weapon," he told them. "And that will be the weapon you work with today."

Sakura and Naruto raced to the bag, excited about their lesson today, while Sasuke just walked over and waited for them to pick. When the three finally chose their weapons they stood holding them, facing their teachers.

Sakura had chosen a weapon similar to Rika's bladed chain. It was a bladed whip and instead of being little sharp pieces of metal, it was one long, very thin and sharp piece.

Sasuke's weapon of choice was a pair of plain old Sais. He wanted to use a weapon that he knew would be fairly simple to master, but at the same time give him a bit of a challenge because he was so used to using thrown weapons.

Last, was Naruto. He had chosen a rather difficult weapon to wield. He chose the mantis sword. The sword was small with a curved blade and attached to a chain.

"Alright," Kakashi said. "Sakura and Naruto, you will be training with Rika and Sasuke, you're with me."

The three kids nodded and followed the teacher they were assigned to.

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Nori: Holy shit, that took forever. Sorry guys! I hope you all aren't too mad!

Audience: (glares at Nori)

Nori: (smiles sheepishly) SORRY! Anyways please read and review! No flames!!!


	10. An Apology

Nori: Blah, blah, hmmm, so no one is on set now so I'll do my disclaimer. I don't own Naruto or the characters but I do own all the OC's and ideas…LET'S GO!

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It was dark now. Rika and Kakashi were walking back to his house to get some dinner and relax. They had both been training the students all day. They had made sure that each of them was able to use the weapons they chose well enough.

The training went all right. All of the kids, even Sasuke, had trouble with using the weapons. Naruto would goof off, Sakura would drool over Sasuke, and Sasuke was just stubborn and got frustrated easily.

As the two were walking Rika began to think. She couldn't figure out what Kakashi saw in these genin. Sure, Rika thought it was cute how Sakura was so happy that she would have a woman influence around, and Naruto was a nice kid too, and well…Sasuke was just…Sasuke. But, she didn't see the potential for the three to become great shinobi.

'_Wait, what am I thinking?'_ she thought to herself. _'No one ever thought I would be able to even pass my genin exam and look at me, I'm a jonin now.'_

"So what do you think of my team?" Kakashi asked Rika as if he was reading her mind.

"They need work," was all Rika said. Kakashi nodded his head and kept looking forward.

"You've never seen them in battle before though," he told her. Rika didn't say anything.

The two kept walking, neither of them saying a word still. Both knew they needed to talk, they hadn't seen each other for seven freaking years! But, they both refused to start the conversation.

Finally, they arrived at Kakashi's home. Both walked in, still silent. Rika walked into the bathroom that was connected to Kakashi's room. Kakashi just sat on his bed and pulled off his shoes, throwing them on the floor.

"I'm taking a shower," she said. "Hope you don't mind."

"It's fine," Kakashi said, lying back on his bed. He hadn't slept in his own bed for five days, so it felt good.

'_So do you still like her?'_ Obito's voice came from the back of Kakashi's mind.

'_Of course not,'_ Kakashi told him. _'It seems like she hates me. Plus, she's probably found another guy already…I mean just look at her, what guy couldn't just fall for her?'_

'_I'll take that as you still have a thing for her,'_ Obito said.

'_I just said I didn't!' _Kakashi growled.

'_Whaaaaatever, dude,' _Obito shut his mouth after that. Just then Rika came out of the bathroom. She wore a big t-shirt and a pair of boy shorts. She walked over to Kakashi's bed and sat on her knees next to him.

"We need to talk," she said looking at her hands. Kakashi sat up and looked at her.

"I agree," he said. They were quiet for a moment. "So…who starts?"

"I don't know…" Rika whispered. Kakashi frowned.

"I will," he said. "Ok, there's so much I want to know. Why were you gone for so long, where did you go, why are you back, what made you want to try and kill me, and do you hate me?" Questions poured out of Kakashi's mouth.

"Whoa, slow down, Kakashi!" Rika said and giggled. "I can barely keep up with you. Ok, for your first question, I was gone for so long because I was mad. I've never been that angry in my life so I didn't know how to deal with it and I just left."

Kakashi nodded. Finally, the two were getting somewhere.

"Next question," Rika started. "I went all over to different villages, I was never in the same village for more than a week at a time."

"So why did you just show up back here all of a sudden?" Kakashi asked. "I mean you were so mad…then you just show up again."

Rika sat there for a moment, thinking. She couldn't just come out and tell Kakashi about Vansu. No…Vansu would find out and then just come earlier to kill the both of them.

"I heard about the Sand Village's attack," Rika blurted out. It was the first thing that could come to mind. "So, I came back here to see what was going on."

"Wait, so what was your reason for trying to kill me?" Kakashi inquired.

Rika had to think up of another excuse now. Damn, Kakashi was good at asking difficult questions!

"Because…because…" Rika said. "I just needed to get out my last bit of anger," she lied.

Kakashi nodded.

"I don't blame you," he told her. "I'm sorry for everything…about how I treated you. It really was out of line for me to say that to you. Can you ever forgive me?"

Rika's eyes widened. She never expected to hear such an apology from Kakashi.

Then, all of a sudden, Kakashi did another of the unthinkable! He hugged Rika. Rika's eyes got even wider.

'_No, Kakashi,'_ she thought. _'Don't do this please. It's bad enough that I have to kill you.'_

"I-I-I forgive you," Rika managed to get out. She hugged Kakashi back and closed her eyes. Tears fell down her cheek and she pulled back. "I have to go, now."

"What?" Kakashi asked. "You just got here a few days ago. You can't leave already."

Rika shook her head and with her eyes still closed and wiped away the tears before Kakashi noticed. She stood up and walked towards the window.

"Bye, for good this time, Kakashi," she said before she disappeared out the window.

Kakashi sat on his bed, dumbfounded. What just happened? He let her go again? Why was she leaving this time? She said she forgave him! What the hell was going on?

'_Go after her!'_ Obito shouted. _'You can't lose her again! No matter how much you don't want to admit it I know that you really care for her!'_

Kakashi clenched his fists and stood up. He walked over to his open window and jumped out. He knew Rika was fast, but he also knew her well enough to be able to catch her.

He pulled a scroll out of his vest and performed hand signs, then smashed it onto the ground. Out of the earth dogs jumped up and all around Kakashi. He pulled out Rika's hair clip from the pouch on his hip and held it out; each of the dogs sniffed it.

"Find her," was all Kakashi said before all the dogs went running in different directions. Then, Kakashi began to wander the streets to see if Rika had stayed in town or not.

As he was walking he noticed Sasuke wandering the streets, as well. The two stopped in front of each other.

"What are you doing out this late, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked. Sasuke glared at him.

"Since when is that any of your business?" he retorted.

"Since I'm your sensei," Kakashi smirked under his mask. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"If you really want to know," he said. "I couldn't get to sleep. What are you doing just walking around?" Sasuke asked changing the subject.

"Looking for someone," was all Kakashi told him. Sasuke was going to press further into the matter but then decided he didn't really care about it. "Get home and back to bed." Kakashi ordered. "We have a mission tomorrow that I got from the Hokage a few days ago."

Sasuke nodded and walked back into the direction of his home and Kakashi went back to his search.

_-With Rika-_

Rika jumped out of Kakashi's window and just began to run like a bat out of hell. She couldn't do this! She couldn't just kill Kakashi! He was her best friend and she loved him to death. She finally realized that no matter what she could never truly stay mad at him, especially after him apologizing.

'_What the hell am I going to do?'_ Rika thought, frantically. _'I'm so stupid, why did I even leave in the first place?'_

Rika was so angry with herself by this time. She had gotten her in such a mess and there was NO ONE that could help her out of it. Not even Kakashi. She wasn't even able to tell Kakashi, especially after his apology. It would hurt her to do such a thing and even worse, it would hurt him to know that one of his old friends had a mission to kill him.

Rika reached the gate of the town and ran through it. When she got out she jumped into a tree, then jumped to other trees, trying to get as far away as possible. Then, Rika stopped suddenly.

"My weapons," she whispered to herself. "I forgot them!" she smacked herself in the head. "Baka, baka, baka!" she turned around and rushed at her lightning fast speed back to Konoha. As she was running, though, she was tackled to the ground. She landed with an "umph!" and someone on top of her.

She looked up and saw Sasuke sitting on her.

"Sasuke, what are you doing here?" Rika asked. The boy glared at her.

"Why are you leaving?" he asked.

"How did you know I was leaving?" she retorted. "Did Kakashi tell you?" Sasuke rolled his eyes and realized his questions weren't going to be answered until he answered hers.

"No, he didn't tell me anything," he told Rika. "But, just by the way he was acting I could tell that you did something stupid."

Now it was Rika's turn to glare at him. How dare a twelve-year-old genin tell her that she was doing something stupid?

"So, why are you leaving?" Sasuke asked ignoring her glare. Rika looked away now.

"That's none of your concern, maybe I'm not leaving," she told him. "Plus, I'm twenty-four, I can come and go as I please." Rika pushed the boy off of her. "Go home and don't follow me anymore."

Rika stood up and flitted away at her top speed, heading back to Kakashi's to grab her weapons. Being the annoying pest he is, Sasuke decided to follow.

Rika looked back sensing his chakra following.

'_There's no way he can catch me,'_ she thought and smirked. _'I'm the fastest ninja around here, except for the Yellow Flash of course, but he's not around…' _

Then Rika noticed something right behind her. She turned her head a bit and saw the Uchiha right there.

'How the hell…' she asked herself. Seeing some shock in her eyes, Sasuke smirked and continued to race after her. Sasuke was following her so quickly and caught Rika so off guard that she wasn't paying attention to where she was going. 

Sasuke was looking straight ahead and saw a green flash in front of them. He stopped quickly.

"Rik-" he was cut off by her running straight into whatever the green flash was. Sasuke winced, she hit whatever, or whoever, it was pretty hard.

Rika sat on the ground rubbing her head.

"Oww," she groaned, looking up. She saw silver hair shining in the moonlight, making the figure oh so mysterious. His mask was in place, like always, but his forehead protector was straight, his red Sharingan eye glowing.

"Where do you think you're going?" he growled in a deep voice, his tone was dangerous. Rika just looked away.

Sasuke smirked. He was right, she was leaving. What bewildered him though was why the hell she was heading back towards the village…

"You don't understand Kakashi," Rika said. She looked back up to him. Her crystal eyes narrowed. "I just have to. It's too dangerous if I stay."

Sasuke grunted at that remark. Rika knew exactly what the egotistical boy was thinking. Threat? Rika? How could that be? She seems so weak. Rika saw right through that.

"Shut it," she snapped at him. Sasuke just glared at her. Rika turned her attention back to Kakashi.

"I'm going to make you stay even if I have to tie you up," he said. "You do know that, right?"

Rika glared at him. Then, she laughed.

"You wouldn't," she said. Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, you don't think so?" he asked. He picked Rika up by the color of her shirt and stared at her with his Sharingan. This caught her off guard, that's been happening a lot tonight…she watched as the commas swirled in the red abyss of the eye. Then, everything went black.

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Nori: YAY! Finished! I'm so happy.

Tama: Good job!

Nori: Thank you, BITCH!

Tama: O.o

Nori: Read and review please!


	11. Kidnapped!

Nori: This is why, this is why, this is why I rock! WE ROCK CUZ WE FLY, YOU AIN'T CUZ YOU NOT!

Tama: No…not the rapping…

Nori: Oh yes, the rapping! DO IT TO DA MAXIMUM, TAKE IT WHY YOU ASKIN' 'EM, DON'T LISTEN TO DOS SUCKAS WHEN THEY SAY YOU TOO IRRATIONAL!

Tama: Oh…my…god…someone do the disclaimer…go ahead…uh…NEJI!

Neji: Why me?

Tama: (looks at Nori)

Nori: What you know about dat, what you know about dat, what you know about dat, I know all about dat!

Neji: …oh. Well, uh, Noriko doesn't own Naruto or any of the characters…thank GOD! But she does own all the OC's and ideas.

Nori: LET'S GO! IF YOU WANT IT YOU CAN GET IT LEMME KNOW!

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Rika stirred under the warm covers of the bed she was in. She groaned and sat up straight. Where was she? What happened last night? Once her vision fully came back she looked at her surroundings. She was in…Kakashi's house?

She didn't realize when she first woke up…that she was tied up in Kakashi's bed. Her arms were bound behind her and her ankles bound together.

"Damn!" she cursed. She squirmed around trying to break free. "This isn't happening!"

Then, she saw someone standing in the doorway. It was Kakashi who, she could tell just by looking at his visible eye, was smirking in triumph.

"Kakashi!" Rika shouted. "You bastard! Let me go!"

Kakashi walked over to the end of the bed and stopped. He stared at her, still smirking in victory.

"Ka-ka-shi…" Rika growled.

"No," he stated simply. "I kind of like seeing you tied up, in my bed." His eye gleamed; he knew he was really getting to Rika.

Rika's eyes went wide at that statement and she blushed. She never realized what she was wearing, either. She still had on her big t-shirt, but it rolled up a bit, revealing her skimpy boy shorts.

"Perv," she said, still blushing. Kakashi still smirked. "Can you please untie me…" Rika had started to resort to begging.

"Hmmm," Kakashi looked up and rubbed his chin, as if he were thinking. "On a few conditions."

Rika sighed. She had a feeling she knew what they were going to be but she let him continue.

"You have to stay in the village," he said. "And to make sure you don't end up leaving, you have to be with someone everywhere you go."

Rika's jaw dropped. She was expecting the first thing he said, but the second thing!? That was just crazy! There was no way she was going to have to be shadowed all the time. That would get real annoying, real fast…and a bit creepy.

"Well, then I guess I'll just have to find Jiraiya in here and leave you two _alone_," Kakashi said. He hated that idea, he didn't want to leave that perv alone with Rika, but this was the only way she would stay.

"Jiraiya?" Rika asked. That named sounded familiar…where had she heard it before? Then she remembered. "That perverted sannin!?" She shouted. She had seen him before when she was younger. Once she caught him peeking in on the woman's bathhouse. That was the time where she had just learned to use her explosive jutsu and he was the first she tested it out on!

"It's your decision," Kakashi said and waved a hand lazily. "Unless you like staying in that position." He smirked.

Rika sighed. She had to say yes if she wanted to get untied. Plus, she figured whoever was keeping an eye on her would be easy to deceive…maybe she could leave after all.

"Fine, Kakashi," she said. "I agree to your terms…now just untie me."

Kakashi gave her a nod and untied her feet. Then he walked over to the side of the bed and untied her arms. When he was finished he dropped the ropes to the ground.

Rika smiled and rubbed her wrists. It felt good to be able to move them again.

"My team is going on a mission today," Kakashi told her, walking away. "You can come if you please. If not, I'll have one of my comrades watch you."

Rika thought for a moment, then she sighed.

"I'll go," she grumbled. Kakashi smiled under his mask.

"Good," he said. "Get ready, we're leaving today." Rika got out of bed and walked into the bathroom and got ready.

_-Later-_

Rika and Kakashi made it to the exit of Konoha by 1pm. There, they Kakashi's three genin waiting rather patiently for the two.

"Late again, Kakashi-sensei," Sakura said monotone. She had dark circles around her eyes and it seemed as if she got no sleep last night and hadn't eaten for a while, either.

"So, what's our mission, today!?" Naruto shouted, his usual hyperactive self. "Is it as exciting as when we had to fight Zabuza and Haku?"

"Not that exciting," Kakashi told the blonde haired boy. Naruto frowned. "But, there is a missing nin that has been spotted around the village. Our job is to see if we can find the shinobi and bring him back to the village."

Naruto's eyes brightened up.

"What if the ninja is a high class assassin?" he shouted. "That would be so cool! And I, Naruto Uzumaki, would come to the rescue and save our village!"

Kakashi and Rika both sweatdropped.

"Don't get your hopes up," Kakashi told him. "The people who have spotted this ninja said that he has a weak chakra and that it seems as if he's been injured. I don't think he will put up that much of a fight. If I expected this I would've sent other jonin or ANBU members."

Naruto began to sulk again. Kakashi just smirked under his mask.

"Well, we should get going," he told them and began to walk through the gates. Rika sighed and followed with the genin at her heels. "What we're going to do," Kakashi said as they were walking, "Is each of us will have a radio to contact each other, but we need to split up. The more spread out we are, the faster we are to catch the ninja."

Kakashi handed out a radio headset to each of his genin and to Rika. They all put them on and then raced off in different directions to find this mysterious shinobi.

- - -

Rika sat in a tree around the village wall. She had been sitting there for at least three hours and no sign of some weak, missing ninja. She was beginning to wonder…if he was so weak how was he able to escape from his village? It was strange…unless his village had a very low security system.

Rika just shrugged if off and continued to look for a ninja. Her eyes would droop every once in awhile but she would catch herself and snap them back open. She was so bored just sitting there that it was making her tired…if only she had her MADLIBS.

Just as her eyes were about to close again she heard a scream. Rika jumped up to her feet. The scream sounded just like Sakura. Rika waited to see if the scream would come again, she could've just been hearing things. But, sure enough, it did. This time louder, though, and more high pitched.

Rika jumped from the tree she was perched in and raced towards the direction of Sakura's scream. As she was running Sasuke came up next to her. She looked over at the boy.

"You heard it, too?" she asked. Sasuke just nodded, looking straight ahead. Rika looked back ahead too as they jumped through the trees. Suddenly, they reached a part of the woods where it was less dense. The two jumped to the ground, where they saw Naruto. He was glaring at a person standing in front of him. The man had blonde hair and grey eyes. He was tall and muscular. He was covering Sakura's mouth and holding a kunai to her neck.

Rika's eyes went wide. No. This couldn't be happening…

"Vansu…" she whispered. Sasuke looked at her strangely, he had heard what she said. How did she know this man?

"Let her go," Rika growled. Vansu turned his gaze to Rika who had not noticed before. He smirked.

"Rika, good to see you," Vansu said still smirking.

Rika just shook her head. She had a feeling what he was going to say next and she really didn't want him to. Not that he would listen to her.

"Kakashi dead?" he asked. "Or did you not get to killing him yet?" Damn. He said it.

Naruto's gaze shifted from Sakura and Vansu to Rika. His eyes were wide in disbelief; he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Yea, sure, Rika could be a total bitch to Kakashi when she wanted to be, but he didn't think that she wanted to kill him.

Sasuke glared at Rika. Even though he never showed it, deep, deep, deep, really deep down he cared for his team and his sensei. He thought his sensei was a complete idiot sometimes but he cared for him nonetheless. How could this girl want to kill him?

Rika noticed the two boys staring at her. She looked away from everyone in the clearing. Great, they all hated her now. Stupid Vansu, stupid, stupid! She hated him with all of her being. He was really the one she wanted dead…but…she knew she would never have enough strength to be able to defeat him.

"Just let the girl go," Rika finally managed to get out. "Now, Vansu."

Vansu just continued to smirk. He knew how to get to Rika almost well as Kakashi did.

"I'm not going to," he told her. Rika began to get fumed. What the hell did he want with that young girl?

"Vansu, don't-" Rika began to charge towards him but in the puff of smoke he just disappeared. Rika stopped running and stood there dumbfounded. He actually took her? Why? Why the hell would he do that!? She looked back at Naruto and Sasuke who both now were glaring at her.

"Guys, it isn't true…what he said…" Rika told them. "I would never…"

Then, Kakashi jumped down into the clearing. He looked at the three. His eye smiled at them all.

"Mission's done for today," he said. "The ninja was found by some of the ANBU Black."

They all looked away from Kakashi. Sasuke turned his glare back to Rika.

"Sakura's gone, Kakashi-sensei," Naruto said. Kakashi tilted his head to the side.

"Where did she go? It isn't like her to just leave her mission," he said. Rika looked at the ground.

"Some blonde guy took her!" Naruto now glared at Rika. "Ask Rika-sempai! If that is her real name!"

Kakashi turned and looked at the blonde kunoichi. He was so confused and had no idea what Naruto was talking about.

"Care to explain?" he asked. Rika sighed.

"The girl…was taken by a man I know," was all Rika said. Sasuke growled, she wasn't telling Kakashi the whole story!

"She wants to kill you, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto blurted out. "That's what he said, she's here to kill you!" Kakashi looked from Naruto to Rika.

"Who's this man? And why did you really want to kill me?" he asked with annoyance and hurt in his voice. Rika cringed; she didn't like hearing him like this. She sighed, she was going to have to tell them all the truth eventually, why not get it over with now?

"Ok, where to start, well…"

Rika explained everything that happened to her, leaving out most of the parts of how she slept with Vansu and how abusive he was. She did tell them about how he wanted Rika to kill Kakashi and how she was going to but she changed her mind.

"And that's what happened," Rika finished her story. "I'm so sorry for lying to you guys, this is all my fault! Sakura got captured because of me and I don't even know where to look for her." Rika looked down at her feet as the three in front of her just continued to glare. She covered her face with her hands and shook her head.

"Your ignorance got one of my students kidnapped," Kakashi growled. Rika just continued to shake her head.

"I know, I know," she said. "This is so horrible, it's all my fault, I'm so sorry, Kakashi." Rika couldn't stop babbling.

Then she heard Kakashi move. She quickly looked up and she saw him disappear off in a different direction. Sasuke gave her one last glare and then followed his sensei.

Naruto slowly walked over to the spot where Sasuke had stood and looked in the direction they were running to. His head snapped back to Rika who just stared at him.

"Well," Naruto said in a dark voice. "Are you coming or not?" Rika's eyes were wide. Even though she had known him only for about a week she had never heard him talk like that and never even expected such a dark tone of voice from a boy like himself. "Well?" he repeated.

Rika nodded once and the two ran after Sasuke and Kakashi. Rika had no idea how they would do it, but they were going to find Vansu and stop him. They were going to get Sakura back. They just had to. Rika would feel so guilty if anything bad happened to the young girl.

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Nori: I don't know if I liked this chapter that much.

Tama: Why, it wasn't horrible.

Nori: Well, cuz I always change how Rika acts, don't worry though dudes, I will fix this next chapter!

Tama: READ AND REVIEW!

Nori: No flames please!


	12. Is This The End?

Nori: Woop! Chapter twelve.

Tama: Go you!

Nori: Yes, yes! So, disclaimer today…let's have…Orochimaru do it!

Tama: I thought you hate him.

Nori: I do. That's why I'm making him do it.

Orochimaru: (walks onto stage) I heard my name.

Nori: DISCLAIMER! YOU! NOW!

Orochimaru: O.o Uh, Noriko doesn't own Naruto or any of the characters but she does own all the OC's and ideas…

Nori: Let's go!

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Everything was dark. She wasn't sure where she was or how she got there. Slowly, she sat up, but as she did a sharp pain spread through her whole forehead. She moved a pink lock of hair out of her face and touched her head with the palm of her hand.

"Where am I?" Sakura asked no on in particular. She stood up and looked around, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the dark. But, then suddenly a light flicked on. Sakura squinted at the sudden light change. "Who's there?" she called, putting a hand near the pouch holding her kunai and shuriken, but then noticed the pouch wasn't there. She gasped and looked down, seeing her thigh bare.

She looked up when she heard footsteps coming closer to her. She looked around and took in her surroundings; she couldn't see where she was before because of the darkness.

Sakura stood in the middle of a small cell. Three walls of damp stone surrounded her and the last wall was made up of iron bars. She walked over to the iron bars and looked around. She saw she was in a hallway filled with other cells that were empty. Her cell was the only one lit at the moment.

She looked down the hallway and saw the silhouette of a huge man coming towards her. Not having any weapons to defend herself, Sakura quietly moved closer to the back of her cell, hoping he wouldn't notice her, but in the back of her mind she knew that he only had come down there for her.

'_Stay calm, Sakura,'_ the young kunoichi told herself. _'You're a smart girl, you can get through this. Plus, Kakashi-sensei, Rika-sempai, Naruto and Sasuke are probably coming…I hope…'_

Sakura stayed with her back against the wall as the man stopped in front of the cell she was in.

He was a tall man, taller than the one that had first took her in the forest. He had a very large build. His hair was bright red and spiky. He wore a mesh tank top and black pants that shinobi usually wear. There was nothing on his feet. His dark brown eyes looked down coldly at Sakura. He opened the gate on her cell.

"Come on, he's waiting," he said in his deep voice.

Sakura didn't know what to do at the moment…should she fight? No way, this guy was way to big and she sensed he had a very high amount of chakra. Quietly and cautiously she walked closer to the man. She looked up at him, carefully not to meet her eyes with his. She did see, though, that the man had a small star tattooed on the corner of his right eye. The man noticed her staring.

"Are you coming or what?" he asked, annoyed and grabbed her wrist and pulled her to follow. Sakura grimaced at the man's tight grip on her arm but moved her legs to follow. They walked down the hallway of jail cells, which seemed to be in some sort of cave and out into the open. There, awaiting the two, stood the man that had originally took Sakura away from her friends.

Sakura had no idea who this man was or why he took her. All she knew about him is that he was the bad guy and he somehow knew Rika-sempai.

"Here she is," the man holding onto Sakura's arm said and pushed her towards the other man.

"Thanks, Hyousuke," Vansu said to the man who just bowed and walked away. Sakura looked up at the blonde man. 

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice shaking a bit. Vansu stepped closer to the girl and touched her cheek. Sakura backed up. Vansu just grinned.

"It's none of your concern right now," he said, in an unusually calm voice. "All you need to worry about is if your friends show up in time." Vansu chuckled.

Sakura's eyes went wide. What was this man going to do to her? And what if her friends didn't run after her? Sakura wasn't sure what she was going to do.

_-In Another Part of the Forest-_

"Kakashi, how do you know that he went this way?" Rika called out to the silver haired man that was running beside her. His headband was straight on his forehead now, revealing his Sharingan eye.

"I know Sakura's chakra," Kakashi told her in a tone warning her not to test him. "I can sense it this way." Rika didn't ask any further questions. Kakashi was already so angry with her, she didn't know if he could ever forgive her.

Rika looked back to see if Naruto and Sasuke were still keeping up, and sure enough they were. Both of them seemed to be glaring at Rika so she turned her head back around. Even in doing that, though, she could still feel their glares boring into the back of her head.

Rika looked up in the sky. It was beginning to get dark now; they had been running for hours. She was starting to get a bit tired, but she knew that they couldn't stop. They had to get to the girl. Rika wasn't sure what Vansu would do to her.

Rika had to follow Kakashi the whole time because Vansu had masked his chakra so she wasn't able to follow him. Lucky for them though, Sakura hadn't learned how to mask hers yet, so Kakashi and her teammates were able to pinpoint her location.

"We're almost there," Rika heard Naruto say from behind them. Sasuke just nodded. He was so angry at his sempai right now. How the hell could she betray them like that!? He knew she was annoying, but he was just beginning to respect her a bit. Now, he just couldn't stand her.

Then, Kakashi jumped down from the trees that they ran in. Naruto, Sasuke, and Rika all followed. Once he hit the ground he just stood there staring straight at an odd looking cave. It seemed as if people came here all the time, and it looked man-made.

"Is this is?" Rika asked standing beside him. Kakashi just nodded his head once and walked closer to the cave. He was cautious, making sure that no enemies were around. Sasuke and Naruto followed close behind their sensei, prepared to attack if necessary.

"Don't worry," Rika said walking to the mouth of the cave. "Vansu never has any security systems or hidden guards."

The three shinobi stared at Rika, wondering if she was still on Vansu's side or not. They didn't know if they should trust her.

Rika stopped at the entrance of the cave and looked back at the three boys. Kakashi could see the hurt in her eyes; he had never seen her look like that ever. Not even the time when he had yelled at her seven years ago.

"Please trust me, guys," she said with a hurt tone. "I told you I was sorry. I truly am. I would never betray you." Rika stood there for a moment before the three actually moved closer to her. She smiled a bit and they all walked further into the cave.

Many lanterns lit the beginning of the cave, but as they got deeper into it there were only a few torches to show the pathway. It was a fighting strategy that Vansu used many times when they had to stay somewhere that was unfamiliar or would be easily found by their enemies. Vansu's eyes were adapted well to see in the dark, a bloodline trait of his family, so he could find his way around in the dark flawlessly.

"Stay alert," Rika told her friends as it began to get darker and darker. "Vansu is able to see in the dark. That's why it's barely lit down he-AH!" Rika shrieked as she felt herself being grabbed from behind and pulled through a secret passageway in the wall.

"Rika!" Kakashi shouted looking around for the blonde. She was nowhere to be found. "Rika where are you!?" it was so dark, that the copy ninja was having trouble seeing even with his Sharingan. (A/n: Can you see in the dark with the Sharingan?)

"Where did she go, Kakashi-sensei!?" Naruto asked looking around. Sasuke had activated his Sharingan, looking around for her as well.

"I'm not sure, but we should hurry," Kakashi said. "She isn't here to help us with this guy and we need to get Sakura!"

The two boys nodded and they all began running deeper into the cave.

_-With Rika-_

Rika struggled against the strong arms that gripped around her waist and covered her mouth. She tried shouting but her cries were muffled. She went to elbow her captor in the ribs but when she did so, she just ended up hurting herself. Whoever was holding her had a body like a rock.

"Shut up, stop moving," the man growled. Rika didn't listen; she just kept squirming trying to break free. "That's it, you've given me no choice." The man took his hand and squeezed Rika's shoulder on the spot right near her neck. Rika's eyes went wide and then everything went black.

When Rika finally woke up she was in a different room. This one was well lit, but it seemed to be empty, except for her.

She was chained to a wall, her arms over her head and her feet bound together on the ground. She frantically looked around hoping that Kakashi or even Naruto or Sasuke were there with here, but she didn't see any sign of them.

"Rika, Rika, Rika," she heard the familiar voice of Vansu as he stepped into the room. "Good to see you, again."

"What do you want, Vansu?" Rika spat. Vansu just laughed and walked closer to the kunoichi. Rika just glared daggers at him. Once he got close to her, he put a finger under her chin and tilted her head up.

"Aw, Ri, don't give me that look," he grinned.

Rika narrowed her eyes even more at him, only Kakashi was allowed to call her that! Then, what Vansu did next made Rika fume! He kissed her full on, on the lips. Rika squeaked and tried to turn her head away, but Vansu held her so she wasn't able to. Once Vansu pulled away he smirked.

"I have a little present for you," he told her and turned and faced the door her walked into. "Hyousuke!" he called.

Then, in came the huge man that had knocked Rika out before. She had never seen him in her life, she had no idea how Vansu knew him. There were so many secrets Vansu kept from her, so she wasn't surprised that she didn't recognize him. She noticed though, in the man's arms he carried the young pink-haired genin…

"Sakura!" Rika gasped, her eyes wide in horror. She could see that the girl was unconscious and that she was bruised on her head very badly. She also saw other cuts bleeding all over her arms and legs. Blood trickled out of the corner of her mouth as well. "What did you do to her!?" Rika shouted.

Vansu didn't answer Rika. He just stood there and smiled.

"Answer me!" Rika shouted even louder this time. Hyousuke brought Sakura closer to them. Rika could see that she was still breathing, she was happy that she was still alive at least, but enraged because Vansu did this to a poor innocent little girl. Hyousuke set her down and exited the room.

"She will be fine," Vansu said. "If you or her teammates can get her to a hospital in time."

Rika's eyes went wide again. How would she be able to get her to a hospital? She was chained in this room. Kakashi, Sasuke, or Naruto couldn't either. She didn't even know where they were now or if they would even be able to find her!

'_Damn it, Rika!' _she cursed herself. _'Why did you even think of coming back to the village!?' _

Vansu laughed.

"It seems like that won't be happening though, am I correct?" he said and chuckled. Rika just grit her teeth and continued to glare at Vansu. She was trying to think of what to do to save Kakashi's student. Nothing was coming to mind though, they were all screwed. Then…it hit her!

'_My hands are close together enough to still make hand seals,'_ she said. She began to make the seals.

"Shadow clone jutsu!" she shouted as two clones of her appeared in front of her right next to each other. One of her clones raced towards Vansu and punched him square in the jaw. Vansu flew back and hit the wall on the opposite side of the room.

Rika's other clone stayed by her and began to pick at the locks of her chains with a senbon. Finally, she got them open. Rika brought her hands down and pulled out a kunai. She used it to cut her ankles free. She looked at her clone and smiled before it poofed away.

Rika looked over at Vansu who cracked his jaw before standing up. He glared at Rika who just smirked back at him. Her other clone poofed away as well.

"That was a good move, Isono," Vansu growled. "But, you still won't be able to defeat me."

"Shut up for once and just fight," Rika said to him. Vansu smiled.

"As you wish," he said. He pulled out two shuriken and a kunai; he chucked the three weapons and Rika. Rika pulled out her katana and hit each weapon causing them to fall to the ground.

Rika was so busy dodging those weapons, though, that she never noticed Vansu disappear. She looked all over for him, but there was no sign.

"Damn," she whispered. She held onto the katana in her hand even tighter now.

"Over here," Rika heard Vansu's voice and spun around. She saw nothing and continued to look for the man. All of a sudden, Vansu just appeared out of thin air in front of her. Rika gasped and went to back up, but it was too late. He punched Rika right in the stomach. Rika keeled over holding her abdomen.

"How…?" Rika choked out. Vansu smiled.

"A new jutsu I picked up while you were busy in Konoha," he told her. "It allows me to camouflage myself into my surroundings. I haven't perfected it yet, so it doesn't last as long as I would like." Then, without warning, Vansu kicked Rika in the face. Rika flew back and hit the wall. She closed her eyes from the pain. Her katana fell to her side.

She looked over at Sakura who was lying in the middle of the room they were in. Rika saw that her breathing was beginning to slow down. She closed her eyes as more pain came over in her face and stomach. She was going to lose this battle again. She knew it. Rika hated Vansu, she wanted him dead…but she was never strong enough to beat him.

She stood up, slowly, with one hand on the wall to support her. As she stood up she grabbed her katana again.

"This isn't over, Vansu," she told the blonde shinobi. Vansu laughed.

"You're right," he said. "And it won't be until both you and Hatake are dead!" Hearing this, Rika just shook her head and then using her remarkable speed ran towards Vansu, her sword poised to stab him right through the heart.

Before Rika had reached Vansu he pulled out a kunai. Using the kunai he moved the blade past him and then he used another kunai to stab Rika's arm. She winced in pain and fell to her knees again. She pulled the kunai out of her arm and threw it across the room. She grit her teeth and held onto the bleeding part of her arm tightly.

"Give up, Rika," Vansu said turning to face her. "You know you won't win."

Rika just sat there, breathing heavily, trying to figure out a way to defeat this man. He was so much stronger than she was. She thought of using her explosive jutsu, but she still wasn't ready to use it again, plus she didn't want to totally kill herself while using it this time.

Rika closed her eyes. She needed help, she really did. But, she didn't want to put any of her friends in danger or seem weak. And now, just because of her stubbornness Sakura was going to die. Then she felt Vansu kick her in the head again. Rika flew back, Vansu ran next to her and punched her in the jaw, then elbowed her in the stomach.

Rika hit the ground with a thud and just lay there. She looked over to her left and saw Sakura there. Rika closed her eyes again and coughed up some blood. She looked up and saw Vansu standing over her with a smug grin plastered onto his face. He lifted up his foot then stomped down on Rika's stomach.

"AHH!!!" Rika's eyes went wide and she screamed from the pain. She began to cough up more blood. Vansu unsheathed the dagger that her carried on his hip. It was the dagger that Vansu would always use to finish off his victims; Rika had seen him use it before.

Rika squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the pain. This was going to be the end…and she knew it.

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Nori: YAAAAAAAY! CLIFFY!!!!

Tama: You use these all the time in like all your fanfictions…

Nori: I know and everyone just loves me for them!

Audience: (glares at Nori)

Nori: Uhh, that being said, hope you guys liked this! Thank you to all my readers! Keep on reading and reviewing! 

Tama: No flames please!


	13. Brompton Cocktail

Nori: Ok, disclaimer today is a bit long. I do not own Naruto or its characters. I also don't own the song Brompton Cocktail which is by Avenged Sevenfold, who sadly…I do not own either…(sobs) WHYYY! WHY DON'T I OWN AVENGED SEVENFOLD! (immediately stops crying) Anyways, LET'S GO!

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Out of time… 

Rika just lay there with her eyes closed. She waited for the blade to pierce her skin. She knew it was all over now. Even if he didn't stab her, she was as good as dead. She knew she broke a couple bones and she felt some horrible bruises beginning to form. She was afraid of even having some internal bleeding from those punches to the gut.

_Doc, I'm dying._

_I'm feeling compromised, (feeling compromised),_

_And so dehumanized (so dehumanized)!_

Rika opened her eyes again to see Vansu kneel down next to her. She looked away from him. Rika could hear him chuckle as he rubbed the blade of his dagger against part of her arm. The cold feel of the metal gave Rika goose bumps.

_I lost my final fight to disease,_

_I feel that this is where it ends,_

_I need that shot to enter my veins,_

_My Brompton Cocktail blend._

Then Vansu brought a hand to touch her cheek. His hands were cold. Rika winced; she felt bruises there from his kicks. They had hurt so bad before that she thought her face went numb, but feeling his touch made her think otherwise.

'_Cause I can't feel my face,_

_I won't struggle on,_

_In a world so cold,_

_In a world so wrong._

"Ready to die?" Vansu asked Rika, standing up. "Or are you going to get up and run?"

Rika just lay there for another moment. She didn't want to die there, she couldn't let herself! Everything just hurt so much right now. Rika knew though, if she didn't get up then there was no chance that Sakura would survive. She had to kill Vansu for Sakura, no matter how afraid she was to die right there. She wasn't going to run from Vansu though, she had to fight!

_I'm not running away, been fighting this so long (so long),_

_Such a price that we pay, gotta be so strong._

_In a lie…_

Everything continued to ache in Rika's body. She knew she had to get up but she just couldn't. She was so tired and hurt…everything was going against her right now. She could feel that her chakra was low. If only she could increase it just a bit…somehow…

She wanted Kakashi there. No matter how mad he was at her, just seeing him would make her smile even if she knew he hated her. She needed him there so badly.

_I'm tired, induced euphoria (induced euphoria),_

_To help me move along (help me move along!)_

_I wanna meet my maker in peace,_

_I wanna feel alive again,_

_So put that smile back on my face,_

_And mix it strong my friend._

'_Stand up, damn it!' _Rika told herself. _'Just get up!'_ She moved her hand to reach for her katana that she dropped again. She held its hilt tightly in her hand and glared at Vansu. She was going to fight him, it was going to take every ounce of strength and chakra that she had left, but she was going to do it! She wasn't going to run again! Even if that meant her own death…

'_Cause I can't feel my face,_

_I won't struggle on,_

_In a world so cold,_

_In a world so wrong._

_I'm not running away, been fighting this so long (so long),_

_Such a price that we pay, we gotta be so strong,_

_And I take my life tonight 'cause I have the right to die and how I wanna,_

_And leave how I arrived, so alive._

Rika began to move more, she was using her reserved chakra just to move a bit. She smirked, yes, it was working! She stood up and glared at Vansu who was standing right in front of her.

"This isn't over," Rika growled at him. "And I'm not running from you."

Rika grinned at him. She had hope now, maybe she could do this, and maybe she would be able to finish him off! If she did she would be so proud of herself. Maybe even Kakashi, Naruto, and Sasuke would forgive her! That would make her so happy…to be forgiven by her best friend.

_I believe my sins have been forgiven,_

_And I believe my choice will save me from this life,_

_Please don't question why,_

_My sins have been forgotten,_

_I believe I'll find peace in afterlife,_

_Please don't question why,_

_I left this way._

Then Rika kicked Vansu in the face with all the strength she had left. He flew back as he did before and stood up, glaring. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

He ran back towards Rika, kunai in hand, and slashed down. Rika blocked with her katana and pushed him back. She countered by slicing down diagonally. Vansu jumped back and disappeared, using his camouflage jutsu again.

Rika looked around, more calm and confidently this time. She tried sensing his chakra; he had used up too much to keep it masked still. Then she felt him right in front of her again. She punched him right as he used a kunai to make a cut on her face under her right eye.

'_Cause I can't feel my face,_

_I won't struggle on,_

_In a world so cold,_

_In a world so wrong._

Vansu reappeared a few feet away from Rika, growling at her and rubbing his cheek where she punched him. He just glared at her. Rika stood there glaring back and breathing heavily. Her reserve chakra was already almost gone.

Vansu slowly walked closer to her, still glaring. Rika did the same, except she backed up, a bit afraid of what he was going to do next.

He ran closer to her and grabbed her by the neck. He lifted her off the ground and smirked. Rika's hands latched onto his, trying to pry herself from his grip as she choked for air. Tears were beginning to form in the corners of her eyes as he took out his dagger again.

_I'm not running away, been fighting this so long (so long),_

_Such a price that we pay, we gotta be so strong._

_And I take my life tonight 'cause I have the right to die how I wanna,_

_And leave how I arrived, so alive._

Vansu brought the knife closer to Rika's stomach, prepared to gut her to death. Rika felt the tip of the blade on her skin as she was still gasping for breath, but then some unknown force pushed Vansu to the side, causing him to drop Rika.

Rika just lay there for a moment before seeing a silver blur, then blacked out again.

_Alive._

- - - - - -

It was warm now. Rika slowly opened her eyes wondering where that warming sensation was coming from. It was very bright, almost blinding. She had heard of people seeing that when they died. Was _she_ dead?

"Rika-sempai's awake, guys!" Rika could hear Naruto's voice say, happily.

Rika sat up and saw she was in an all white room. A large window was to her left and an armchair and nightstand to her right. She lay in a bed with all white sheets and saw that she was in a white nightgown.

She noticed three people standing in front of her. Sasuke, Naruto, and Anko.

"You're awake, finally," Anko said smiling at her friend. "We didn't know if you were ever going to get up."

"W-where am I?" Rika asked.

"At a hospital! Duh!" Naruto shouted.

"You've been out for three days," Sasuke mumbled. Rika's eyes went wide. She was knocked out that long? What went on in the past three days? What happened to Vansu and Sakura? Where was Kakashi?

"Whoa!" Rika shouted and threw her hands up. "What happened? Where's Vansu? Where's Sakura? Is she alright? Where is Kakashi!?"

"Calm down," Anko said walking over to the side of her bed and gently lay her back down. "Vansu is dead now."

Rika's eyes went wide again. Dead? Vansu? He was dead? How did this happen? Rika was so confused.

"H-h-he's dead?" Rika asked, still in shock. The three nodded. "How?"

"Kakashi-sensei kicked that jerk's ass!" Naruto shouted thrusting a fist in the air. "It was so awesome!"

"Where is Kakashi? And what about Sakura? Is she ok?" Rika continued to ask questions. Anko nodded.

"They both are being treated here in the hospital," she told her. "Both of them will be fine. Sakura still hasn't woken up yet and Kakashi has been up for the past two days."

Rika looked down at herself again. She saw that her arm was bandaged where Vansu stabbed her and that there were a couple scars from what looked like surgery on her legs. Rika touched her cheek where Vansu had cut her, butterfly bandages held the skin together so it would heal faster.

"You did awesome fighting that Vansu guy, too," Naruto said, breaking the silence. Rika looked at the blonde genin for a moment, then smiled.

"Thank you, Naruto," she told him, still smiling. "Have you guys finally forgiven me for everything I've done?"

Naruto nodded and smiled big. Sasuke just stood there with his arms crossed over his chest. Naruto looked at his teammate and elbowed him in the ribs. Sasuke sighed and nodded as well.

"What about Kakashi?" Rika asked. "Is he still mad?"

Naruto and Anko exchanged worried glances. They both knew how the copy ninja had been acting lately…and well…they decided that it was best if Rika would talk to him herself.

"Why don't you just talk to him when you're up to it, ok?" Anko asked. Rika nodded. "We're going to leave you alone, now. Get better, Rika." Anko told her and smiled. She then pushed the two boys out of the hospital room and left Rika alone with her thoughts.

That's when it suddenly hit her full force. Vansu was dead. D-E-A-D. Dead! Finally, after all these years she was free from him. She wouldn't have to deal with him ever again! She was so thankful for that. It felt like a huge weight was just lifted off of her shoulders. She knew she had to thank Kakashi.

Rika sat up and swung her legs over to the side of the bed. Her feet hit the floor and she shivered, it was so cold. She stood up and stood still for a moment. A wave of dizziness came over her for a moment but then went away. She began to move her legs and walk forward. Her legs ached a little still and were a bit wobbly, but she knew she would be able to get to Kakashi's room.

Rika walked to the door and opened it. She peeked outside to see that the hallway was empty. Rika then tried finding Kakashi's chakra. It was very easy to do; he hadn't tried masking it at all. She could feel him in the room a couple doors down, so she quickly tiptoed down there. She looked on the front of the door that read Hatake, Kakashi. Bingo!

Slowly, Rika turned the doorknob and opened the door. She slipped into the room and shut the door behind her again. She walked into the room and saw that Kakashi wasn't in his bed, but the sheets were still messy, telling he was still in the hospital. Rika realized the door to the bathroom was closed though, and she could hear the shower on, so she guessed he was in there.

Rika sat down on the bed and sighed. She was still a bit sore, so sitting made things a little better. She waited only a couple minutes until she heard the water shut off and the door opened.

Kakashi stood in the doorway of the bathroom. He only wore his mask and a towel around his waist and was dripping wet. He saw Rika sitting in his bed. The two just stared at each other for a moment, not sure what to say to the other.

'_Wow…he looks really gorgeous like that,' _Rika thought. _'Ah! Stupid! You just went through this huge battle and he killed the man that has made your life miserable for the past six or so years and that's all you can think of!? Baka!' _Rika cursed herself.

"Uh…Kakashi," Rika smiled. "I'm so glad you're ok. And I wanted to thank you for killing Vansu and saving me and Sakura."

Kakashi just walked over to the armchair in his room and picked up his clothes, then walked back into the bathroom to change.

Rika looked down at her hands. What was up with him? Why wasn't he talking to her? After another few minutes Kakashi came back out and sat down on the armchair and looked out the window, ignoring the fact that Rika was still there.

"What's your problem, Kakashi?" Rika snapped at him. "Why aren't you talking to me?"

Kakashi still didn't answer.

"Kakashi!" Rika shouted. "Answer me!"

Kakashi looked over at Rika and glared at her with his visible eye.

"You want to know why I'm not talking to you?" he asked. Rika nodded. "Let's see, where do I begin? First, you run off for seven years, then you come back and attempt to kill me. Then I let you stay at my house and you act like a bitch towards me and my students. Then you get one of my students captured and injured badly by a man that's after _you_. And then I find out that he wanted you to kill me and that was the whole reason why you came back here. Does that explain why I wasn't talking to you? Is that a good enough reason to be mad at you?"

Rika looked down at her hands, again. How could she be such a heartless bitch? She hated herself for it so much right now.

All of a sudden, Kakashi appeared right in front of her. Their faces were almost touching. She could feel his warm breath on her lips. Rika's bright blue eyes stared into Kakashi's dark mysterious one. Kakashi reached up and moved her bangs out of her face.

"But, for some reason," he said almost in a whisper. "I'm still crazy about you."

Then, he leaned even closer and kissed Rika on the lips through his mask. Rika's eyes went wide. Was this happening? Her emotions were all over the place right now. She was happy, sad, confused, and relieved all at once. She was glad this was happening though. After everything that happened, she need this

After a minute, Kakashi pulled back and sat down on the bed, looking out the window again, waiting for Rika's reaction.

'_What just happened?' _Rika asked herself. _'Did he just kiss me?'_

When it finally hit Rika that he did, she moved over to him so that she was sitting on his lap. She looked at him for a moment and he looked at her, then Rika wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him. She buried her head in the crook of his neck.

Kakashi's smiled under his mask and hugged her back. He brought his hand up and gently rubbed her long, smooth blonde hair.

"I'm so sorry for everything, Kakashi," Rika said. "I wish I never left you. Vansu…he…" Rika couldn't get the words out, she began to sob.

Kakashi could tell she was crying. This was the first time that she actually cried in front of him and showed it.

"Shh," he said, rubbing her back soothingly. "He told me everything that happened. I wish I could've prevented it all."

Kakashi moved himself so that the two both were lying down on the hospital bed. Rika had her head on Kakashi's chest; tears still stained her face as she closed her eyes. Kakashi held onto Rika tightly. He didn't want to let her go, he wouldn't ever let her go again.

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Nori: YAAAAAY! ANOTHER CHAPTER FIN!

Tama: (is sobbing) That was so beautifuuuuuul!

Nori: Wow, thank you! I actually liked this chapter, it had a good song, was a bit sad, a bit happy. The only thing it would need to be perfect was to add some funny, but I was a good wolfie chika and stayed serious.

Tama: Good job hoe.

Nori: Why thank you…BITCH! Read and review, no flames please!


	14. More problems

Nori: Ok, I'm here. DISCLAIMER! I'll do it. I do not own Naruto or the characters but I do own all the OC's and ideas!

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Rika opened her eyes and yawned. She sat up and looked around, she was still in the hospital. It was dark out now. When did she fall asleep? She looked over at the hospital clock. It was 1:32 AM. She really never remembered falling asleep.

Then, she reached up to touch her cheek. It felt weird, like she had been crying. It hit her at that moment. She remembered. She went to Kakashi's room. He was all mad at her and that's when…he kissed her.

'_Whoa…how can I forget that?' _Rika asked herself. She smiled. _'That was a great kiss. If only he would've taken his mask off!' _She growled. Every since Rika could remember, Kakashi has worn that stupid mask! She had never seen him without it, but she had a feeling she was going to change that…very soon.

Rika sighed and then lay back down, she decided that it would be a good idea to rest up. Hopefully, tomorrow the hospital would let her out.

_-Earlier that Day-_

Kakashi sighed as he walked out of Rika's hospital room. She had fallen asleep on him and he decided, before anyone had a chance to walk in, that he should get her back into her own room.

He couldn't believe what went on about an hour ago. Since when did he have the courage to kiss her? He had no idea where it came from; he was so pissed at her. Why did he do it at a time like that?

'_So, you finally did it,' _Obito's voice said triumphantly in Kakashi's mind as he walked. _'How many years did it take you? Twenty-four? When are you guys gonna just get it on!?' _Kakashi rolled his eyes.

'_Shut up,' _he told his friend. _'I haven't even thought of that, plus, who knows if she likes me as anything more than a friend.'_

'_First of all, yes you do think of that, all the time,' _Obito said, Kakashi knew he was smirking. _'Trust me, I know. And second, did you see how she reacted? She definitely thinks of you as something more than a friend.'_

'_How do you know? She's been through a lot,' _Kakashi said. _'She could've just needed someone to be there for her.'_

'_You're so negative,' _was all Obito said back. Kakashi decided to ignore that statement. Besides, he had some business to tend to. Before he checked out of the hospital he wanted to check up on Sakura. She had been out for the past three days and he was worried about her. He wasn't sure yet exactly what went on with the young genin and Vansu, but he did know that the outcome was pretty bad. He just had to see how his student was doing.

Finally, he arrived at Sakura's hospital room. Room 4785; a name plaque was on the door, it read Haruno, Sakura. Kakashi, slowly and quietly, turned the doorknob and opened it. Inside was pretty much the same setup as his and Rika's rooms. Instead of one of them lying in the bed though, the young, female genin did.

Kakashi walked over to the side of his student's bed. She still looked pretty beat up, even after having treatment for three days. She had a black eye, cuts, bruises, and bumps all over her body. Her pink hair was messy.

Kakashi looked down at Sakura sadly. He took his hand and gently pushed some of her hair out of her face. She looked so peaceful sleeping, even though she was so battered up.

"I can't believe I let this happen," Kakashi whispered to himself. "I can't believe I didn't see this coming."

He couldn't stand seeing Sakura hurt like this. Kakashi, at first, hated his team of students. They were three annoying brats that didn't know what the word "shinobi" meant. But after all they had been through in the past almost year, he had grown to care for them like they were his own children.

In a way, Kakashi felt like he really was their father. Sasuke had no family, well besides his brother, but he was the murderer of the whole Uchiha Clan. Naruto had no family as well, his mother had passed awhile back and his father had died saving the village. And Sakura…she still had a family, but from things Kakashi had heard and read about her, they didn't pay all that much attention to her.

Kakashi couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She needed, they all needed, some sort of parental figure in their life. That was where Kakashi came in.

Then, out of nowhere, Sakura started to stir. Kakashi watched intently to see if she was waking up. He heard her groan quietly. One of her jade eyes opened and looked up at her sensei.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked, her voice hoarse. She opened both eyes now and sat up.

Kakashi smiled sadly under his mask. Even with her being awake, she looked like death. She seemed as if she wanted to cry.

"What happened? Where am I?" she began to ask, Kakashi noticed her eyes turn glassy. "Why am I here? Why can't I remember anything? What's going on, Kakashi-sensei?" Her tears began to flow freely down her cheeks.

"Shh," Kakashi hushed her and gently pushed her to lie back down. "Calm down, Sakura."

Sakura shook her head violently back and fourth.

"What happened, Sensei?" she asked again. "You have to tell me."

Kakashi closed his visible eye and just shook his head slowly. He sighed. He wished he could tell Sakura exactly what happened but he just didn't know. The only thing he did know was that Vansu hurt her…but he was dead now. None of them would have to worry anymore.

"I'm not really sure," Kakashi told his student. "All I know is that man, Vansu, injured you pretty badly. You say you can't remember what he did?"

Sakura shook her head again. More tears fell. Kakashi frowned and brushed them away with his fingers.

"Shh, it's alright, he's gone now," he comforted her. "I promise I won't let anything like that happen to you again."

"I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough," she said to him, her voice was still raspy. "I should've been able to get away."

"Don't talk that way. You were able to keep yourself alive and I'm proud of you for that," he told her gently. "Now, try and get back to sleep. I'll inform one of the nurses that you were up." Kakashi turned to leave, but Sakura's voice stopped him.

"What about my mom or dad?" she asked. "Did they at least stop by?"

Even though Kakashi had been in his own hospital room as long as she had he knew for a fact that neither of her parents had visited to check up on their daughter. He didn't have the guts to tell her that, though.

'_Wow, this is pathetic,' _he thought to himself before answering. _'I'm the Copy Ninja of Konoha, I've killed so many other shinobi and missing Nin that were stronger than me, but I can't tell a little girl that her parents didn't come to the hospital to see her.'_

"Kakashi-sensei?" Kakashi snapped out of his own thoughts.

"Sorry," he told her and turned around. "Uh, I think I remember hearing Naruto say that they did but the nurses wouldn't let them in because of your condition."

Sakura looked down. Kakashi wasn't sure if she knew that they really didn't come or if she just missed them.

"Thank you, Sensei," she told him without looking up. "For everything."

"It's not a problem, Sakura," Kakashi told her and smiled. "Now do as I said and get back to sleep. You need your rest to fully recover."

Sakura nodded and closed her eyes again. Kakashi walked out of the room and shut the door. As he did a nurse walked by, he stopped her.

"Excuse me," he said. "I just wanted to inform someone that Sakura Haruno has woke up now. She still seems beaten up badly and she can't remember what happened to her. But she is fully conscious and able to function for what I can tell."

The nurse smiled and bowed to Kakashi.

"Thank you," she said. "I'll have a doctor go in and check up on her shortly."

Kakashi nodded and walked away. He needed to check out of this hospital now. Ever since he could remember he hated being in hospitals. They were always so depressing and sometimes seemed to make matters worse.

He walked to the elevator and rode down to the lobby where he checked out. Kakashi took a deep breath as he stepped outside. It felt good to get out, finally. It was bright, sunny, and warm, just how he liked it.

Kakashi began to walk down the street. He needed to find Naruto and Sasuke to check up and see how they were doing. They weren't able to do much in the fight against Vansu but they still got a few cuts and bruises here and there. Plus, as their sensei, it was his duty to make sure they weren't trying to kill each other.

He tried to sense their chakra. It was the easiest way to find them. It took a minute before he actually got anything, but then he caught onto Naruto's. He was near the ramen shop.

"Not a surprise," Kakashi said to himself as he ran off to find his student.

Kakashi got to the ramen stand in a matter of a couple minutes where he saw his blonde student and a man that he hadn't seen in a long time. Jiraiya, one of the three sannin.

He casually walked up and sat down next to his pupil. Naruto looked over at his sensei and smiled.

"Kakashi-sensei!" he shouted. "You're out of the hospital!"

"Just checked out," Kakashi told him.

"Kakashi!" Jiraiya shouted. "So good too see you." He got up and slapped his shoulder. Kakashi smiled at the man.

"Same to you," he said, eye curving.

"Guess what, sensei!?" Naruto bounced to his feet. "The Pervy-sage is going to teach me a cool new jutsu!"

"Really, now?" Kakashi gave Jiraiya a questioning glance. He nodded.

"I told him I would," he told Kakashi and waved his hand. "I'll have to take him for a few days, though. I'm on a mission at the same time."

Kakashi nodded.

"Alright," he said and looked at Naruto. "Please, don't do anything stupid." He ruffled the boy's hair. Naruto squinted one eye and glared at Kakashi out of the other.

"I'm a ninja!" he shouted at him. "You don't need to worry about me!"

"Good," Kakashi said and held up his hand. "Well, I have to go find Sasuke now, so I'll see you two in a few days."

"BYE, KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Naruto shouted and the three went their separate paths.

After parting from Naruto Kakashi decided that he needed to go find Sasuke. He had an idea of where he might be. At the training grounds most likely…training.

Kakashi took his time walking to the training grounds. He was taking in the sent of summertime. He loved it so much. Peaceful, calming. After the past few days he needed something to clear his mind.

Once he got near the training grounds he felt a certain familiar chakra…but it wasn't Sasuke's. He hurried his pace and turned a corner to see Anko there. She was training and it looked like she had been for awhile. He could see beads of sweat on her face and that she was panting. She growled and began punching one of the three wooden posts that were smack dab in the middle of the grounds.

Kakashi walked a bit closer to her and she suddenly perked up. She turned around and faced the Copy Ninja. Her breaths were still irregular.

"K-Kakashi," she said. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same," he retorted. "Shouldn't you be at the academy going over what went on during the past chuunin exams?"

Anko put up her hand onto the wooden post she had been beating a moment ago. She had used up a lot of chakra, she'd been training all day so far.

"I took the day off," she told him. "I just needed time to think."

Kakashi walked over and leaned his back against one of the other posts with his arms folded across his chest. Anko sighed and sat down with her legs crossed.

"What do you need time to think about?" he inquired. Anko glared up at him.

"Why should I tell you?" she spat. "The last time we really talked was before Rika left. We were all good friends, Rika, you, Ayumu, and I, then she leaves and you don't say a word to me. Then she comes back and we're all best friends again? I don't think so."

Kakashi looked down at Anko in confusion. He straightened.

"I didn't…" Kakashi started to explain, but Anko cut him off.

"Save it, Kakashi," Anko stood back up. "I just don't feel like talking to anyone right now. You're all worthless." With that she disappeared.

'_What was all that about?' _Kakashi thought. _'I've never known Anko to act like that towards anyone, even if they did betray her.'_

'_Maybe it was Orochimaru?' _Obito's voice popped into Kakashi mind again.

'_No matter how long I haven't really talked to Anko, I know for a fact she would NEVER side or listen to him again, EVER,' _Kakashi told him.

'_You never know,' _Obito said. _'He used to mean so much to her. A lot is going on right now. She might need it.' _

'_No, Obito, don't say that. I don't need this right now. I already have to worry about my students and Rika and I don't need one more thing on my conscious,'_ Kakashi massaged his temples. _'You're already enough to drive one insane.'_

'_I do what I can,' _Kakashi knew that Obito was smiling.

'_It's really not the time for jokes,' _he said.

'_Fine, fine, I'll leave you alone,' _Obito sighed. He knew not to annoy Kakashi when he was overwhelmed, which he rarely got, but this was an instance to just leave him alone.

Kakashi slowly slid down the wooden post until he was sitting. He put his head in his hands and sighed.

'_Ok, Kakashi,' _he told himself. _'Just take one thing at a time. Make a list, that usually helps. Alright, kill Vansu. Check. Make sure Rika is healed. Check. See how Sakura is doing. Check. Find Naruto. Check. Find Sasuke. Still need to do that. Find out what's bothering Anko. That still needs to be done. Make sure Kakashi is alright. I doubt I will ever be able to get to that one…'_

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Nori: God, shitty chapter here. Sorry guys!

Tama: It wasn't…too horrible.

Nori: Yea…right…

Tama: It was good!

Nori: Not really. Sorry for such a long wait guys! Read and review. Next chapter will be up soon.


	15. It Meant Nothing?

Nori: Here we are with chapter fifteen! YIPEE!

Tama: You're getting pretty far with this one too.

Nori: I know, I know. I'm shocked.

Tama: Yes indeed. Who is doing the disclaimer today?

Nori: (thinks) Hmm, I vote…ANKO!

Anko: (looks up with chocolate smeared all over face) Whaa?

Nori: What's with the chocolate?

Anko: (shifty eyes, hides chocolate bar) UH NOTHING! What do I have to do?

Nori: Not gonna ask…disclaimer pleasssse!

Anko: Nori doesn't own Naruto or the characters but she does own all the OC's and ideas.

Nori: LET'S GO!

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Anko winced and clutched her shoulder in pain.

"What does he want?" she asked herself through clenched teeth. She grimaced as another sharp pain shot through her whole body. 

"What do you think I want, Anko," his voice dripped with venom and came from all around her.

Anko dropped to her knees and shut her eyes tight. She squeezed her shoulder tighter. The pain was becoming unbearable.

"S-s-show yourself! Orochimaru!" she shouted. "You weak bastard, come out from hiding." Anko heard more laughing and then out from the shadows stepped the man she hated with her whole being.

He stood, taller than her with pale skin, right in front of her. Anko looked up into his piercing yellow snake-like eyes. Her eyes went wide and she held back a scream as more pain came from her shoulder.

Anko's breaths became irregular and short. She bent her head down.

"Tell me, Anko. How am I the weak one?" Orochimaru asked. He bent down and tilted her head up so she was looking at him. "I seem to be the one who always wins against your pathetic village. And you've never been able to defeat me yourself. Please inform me on how that makes me weaker."

Anko glared at him. Beads of sweat ran down her face. She didn't want to admit it, but she was terrified. She feared Orochimaru. Everything that he had done to her when she was younger still haunts her. She dreams of the things he had put her through, all the torture. She couldn't erase it from her memory, ever.

"J-just tell m-m-me what you w-want," Anko said.

"Isn't it obvious, what have I always wanted?" Orochimaru spat. "I'm going to destroy that pitiful village and you aren't getting in my way." 

The snake-like ninja kicked Anko in the stomach and caused her to fall onto her side. Anko winced in pain and coughed up a bit of blood.

"You've never been able to stop me," he laughed. "I don't understand why you don't just come back to my side. You would be better off that way."

Anko shut her eyes tight again. What was he talking about? Going back to his side? Why would she? He just threw her away like a child throws away a toy when they get bored with it. 

"Why do you want me back on your side?" Anko choked out. The cursed mark still throbbed on her shoulder and the last kick to the stomach wasn't helping anything. She heard Orochimaru chuckle. He knelt back down to her level.

"Because I care about you, Anko," he said and smiled. "Think about it." Anko glared at him, but not for long. There was a rush of wind and Orochimaru disappeared.

Anko relaxed as the pain from the cursed mark began to fade. She let out a sigh of relief. She hadn't had any problem with the mark for such a long time that she didn't remember the pain.

Anko stood up and thought for a moment. Orochimaru…cared about her? Why did he just toss her aside like that years ago, though? How could he do that to her and then all of a sudden expect her to go crawling back to him? She used to look up to him and respect him so much when she was a young girl. 

It made Anko angry just thinking about it. So she leapt down from the tree she was in and back to the village where she was going to train her hardest and just think everything over.

_-At the Hospital-_

Rika walked out of the hospital beaming. She was so happy. Her life seemed so perfect right now. Kakashi finally kissed her, Vansu was dead, her injuries had healed, and all her friends were ok. 

"I should find Kakashi," she said to herself as she walked through the streets of Konoha. "Maybe I could get him to take that mask off." She grinned to herself.

Rika walked slowly through the village taking in the warm air and sunshine. She watched people walk by her in a rush. She really did miss Konoha. She smiled, then she felt a familiar chakra that she had been waiting for. Rika stood on her tip toes and looked all over for Kakashi. That's when she spotted him. 

He was walking along minding his own business with his nose in some book. Rika rushed over to him and walked right behind him. She smiled again and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey," she said when he turned around. Rika tilted her head to the side. "What chya reading?"

He turned around to see Rika. He looked down at his book.

"Just a book," he said simply. Rika glanced at the book; it was Make Out Paradise…

"Kakashi!" Rika exclaimed. "You still read those perverted books?"

Kakashi just smiled wearily under his mask.

"Yea uh," he said. "Rika I need to talk to you about something." He put his book away and rubbed his arm. Rika tilted her head to the side. Something was wrong with the copy ninja.

"Ok, shoot," she said. Kakashi shook his head.

"Not here," he said. "Let's go somewhere else without so many people."

Rika nodded and the two walked side by side through the busy streets of Konoha. Neither of them spoke a word. Rika kept her eyes on the street ahead of her and Kakashi looked up more at the sky. Rika would hear him sigh every once in awhile.

Sometimes Rika would glance up and notice that Kakashi had a somewhat sad or nervous look in his visible eye. She wondered what was making him so on edge. She had never seen him act this way around her. He was always carefree, a bit cocky sometimes, but he had the skills to back himself up. What was wrong with him right now?

Kakashi led Rika to his apartment. He unlocked the door and they both walked in. Rika bounced over to his couch and sat down. Kakashi took his shoes off and sat down on the chair that was next to, but facing the couch.

"So, what do you need to tell me?" Rika asked. She was a bit afraid of what he was going to say because of the way he was acting. Kakashi sighed and rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

'_Don't do it!'_ Kakashi heard Obito's voice in his mind. _'You can't.'_

'_Shut up, Obito, I have to,'_ Kakashi told him sternly. 

"Well?" Rika's voice broke Kakashi away from Obito.

"Oh, sorry," Kakashi said. "I wanted to talk to you about the other day…and that, um, kiss."

Rika smiled.

"What about it?" she asked.

"Well, I didn't mean it as…um, well, that I liked you like that, you know?" he said. "It was just because, I uh, I knew that we both needed someone to be there. And, well, um, you were there, and so that's why it happened. Okay? I just wanted to let you know, it didn't really mean anything."

Rika sat there for a moment. Her smile faded and she looked down and began to play with her hands. After a minute she looked back up at Kakashi and faked a smile.

"Yea, it was the same for me too," she said. Kakashi cringed at the sound of her voice. She seemed to be on the very of tears. He could see that her crystalline eyes were glassy. She stood up. "I have to go," she told him. "Since I'm living here now, I better find a new apartment and get some groceries."

"Do you need any help?" Kakashi asked. Rika shook her head and turned away from him.

"No, I'll see you later, Kakashi," she walked out the door without a word.

'_Nice going, dip shit,'_ Obito said.

---

Rika walked into town, again. The day seemed less happy now. Every once in awhile a stray tear would slide down her cheek but she would wipe it away quickly, before anyone noticed.

As Rika walked old friends and acquaintances that recognized her would say hello and welcome her back to the village. Rika would try her hardest to hide the fact that she was upset and it worked most of the time…that is until she ran into him.

Rika was sitting in a tea shop sipping on her herbal tea trying to calm herself down and not think about Kakashi. So far, no luck. He was really all she could think about.

She didn't understand him, though. After all they had been through; the two had pretty much known each other since birth. Rika always followed Kakashi when she was younger. When they were in their teens the two would flirt constantly. And then she left. Even though he was the reason for her leaving, she still had missed him so much while she was gone. Without him there it seemed like a part of her was missing. Then, the kissed they shared. Yes, it was under strange and emotional circumstances, but Rika felt something between them, or well, she thought she did.

"Rika? Rika Isono, is that you?" Rika heard a voice ask in disbelief. She looked up to see a man standing next to her table.

He was very tall, around six feet. He had jet black hair. It was straight and stopped just by his ears; it was parted straight down the middle. (A/n: Like Itachi's hair if you took off his ponytail) His eyes were a light hazel color and looked kind. The man wore an ANBU uniform. His katana was strapped onto his back. 

Rika looked at him for a moment. She squinted her eyes. He looked so familiar, who was this man? Then it hit her.

"Ayumu?" She asked in awe. He nodded. Rika smiled wide and jumped up and hugged him around his neck. She couldn't believe he was standing right in front of her. She didn't realize she hadn't seen him since she came back. "I can't believe it's you!" she said and smiled again.

Ayumu wrapped his muscular arms around her waist.

"How long have you been back?" he asked her. "I've been on a mission. I didn't know you were here."

"About two weeks," Rika said and pulled back to look at him in the face. "You look so different. You cut your hair." She said, pushing his hair away from his face. He smiled.

"Yea," he laughed. "You look different, too." Then he noticed how her eyes were a bit puffy and bloodshot. "Have you been crying?" he asked, seriously. Rika sighed and looked down. She nodded. "What happened?" 

"It's stupid," she told him. "Just nothing."

"Rika, you know you can tell me," Ayu said sincerely. More tears came to Rika's eyes.

"Ah! I hate being so weak like this," she said. "And I want to be happy, I'm back home and things were going great. Kakashi kissed me the other day. But, today, he told me the kiss meant nothing."

"He said that?" Ayumu asked in disbelief. No matter how much he hated to admit it, like everyone else he knew about how Kakashi and Rika had always liked each other. It always had angered him because he, too, had a thing for Rika. But, maybe, now that Rika was mad and upset at Kakashi, he could make his move. "Come on," Ayu told Rika. "Walk with me, tell me what happened."

The two left the tea shop and walked the streets of Konoha, Rika explaining everything that went on in the past few weeks to Ayumu.

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Nori: WHOA! ON A ROLL HERE! I've updated three fics today!

Tama: Holy whoa, I'm really proud.

Nori: I know, I know me too!

Tama: READ AND REVIEW THIS!

Nori: NO FLAMES PLEASE!


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